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columbus tup; discoveisei; 



A HISTORY 



OF THE 



AMERICAN PEOPLE 



ARTHUR GILMAN, M. A. 

AUTHOR OF 

FIRST STEI'S IN GENERAL HISTORY," "F1KSI STEPS IN ENGLISH 

LITERATURE," EDITOR OF THE "POETICAL WORKS OF 

GEOFFREY CHAUCER," "THE KINGDOM 

OF HOME," ETC., ETC. 



I was born an American I will live an American I shall die an Ameri- 
can, and I intend to perform the duties incumbent upon me in that charac- 
ter to the end of my career. — Daniel Webster 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 

D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY 

FRANKLIN STREET, COR. OF HAWLEY 



BOSTON 



Copyright, 1883. 
D. Lothrop & Company. 






Press of L. N. Fredericks, 
31 Hawley St. Boston. 



PREFACE. 

AMONG the great events that marked the world's revival 
from the sleep of the Dark Ages, none was more 
remarkable than the revelation of the American continent. 
From the moment when the ship of Columbus was sighted 
off the coast of Spain, bearing the proofs of his discovery, 
the name America became the synonym of wealth, of 
adventure, of freedom. No tale was too romantic to 
be believed, if its scene were laid in the New World, and 
the popular enthusiasm of the Crusades was repeated in 
the stir and excitement that ensued when the early adven- 
turers prepared to set out on their quests for the Terres- 
trial Paradise, the Fountain of Youth, and the treasures 
of gold which were supposed to be in the possession of the 
savages. 

The story of the discovery and exploration of America 
presents to us, one after another, the deluded searchers 
after gold, the martyrs who paid for their knowledge of a 
new continent with their lives, and the devotees of religion, 
who earnestly endeavored to carry the Christian faith to a 
people whose blank heathenism they honestly commis- 
erated. The records of the early settlers have furnished 
an unfailing source of romantic themes for the poet and the 
novelist, and now, as we close the fourth century in 
America's history as a factor in modern civilization, all past 
predictions of wealth and greatness sink into insignificance 
in the presence of accomplished facts, and the future of 
our country looms up before the world in grander propor- 
tions and with more commanding promise than ever 
before. 



vi PREFACE. 

The name America, which, by accident or mistake, was 
given to the Western World, fell, in the process of time, to 
the principal nation on the Continent, and for more than a 
century, the inhabitants of the United States have been 
known the world over as the American people. 

It is the history of this people that the present volume 
is interested with. The author desires to tell, in brief, 
how the country was first settled, what motives incited the 
adventurers who left European civilization to plant colo- 
nies on our shores ; how those colonies gradually learned 
that there was strength in union, and that it was to their 
credit before the world to be one nation ; how the early 
fear that a Republican form of government was not 
adapted to a large country was dissipated, and how the 
whole land was gradually developed until its present position 
among the nations was reached. 

It is interesting to note how the name America has 
taken hold upon the people. There has been natural 
growth in this respect. The colonies of France, Spain, and 
England, were the "American" colonies, and as the States 
which took their places became the chief nation on the 
continent, they assumed the name American at an early 
period. The war by which they achieved their independ- 
ence was always " the " American revolution, and into that 
struggle the people entered in the spirit of the words of 
Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, uttered in 1765, 
" There ought to be no New England man, no New Yorker, 
known on the continent, but all of us Americans." At its 
close, when Washington addressed the Governors of the 
different States to urge upon them the formation of an 
" indissoluble union," he referred to the people as " the cit- 
izens of America." In laying down his office at the close 
of his Presidential terms, he said, " The name of America, 
which belongs to you in your national capacity, must 
always exalt the just pride of patriotism." 

The reader of the speeches of later statesmen will 



PREFACE. vil 

remember how this sentiment became a general inheritance, 
and with what frequency the talismanic name American 
was used by them to stir the patriotic heart. This is 
especially exemplified by Webster, who said on one occa- 
sion, "I am an American, and I know no locality in Amer- 
ica : that is my country ; " and again, with even more 
emphasis, "I was born an American; I will live an Ameri- 
can ; I shall die an American." 

Never was the sense of nationality so strong in America 
as at present, and one of the results is seen in the revived 
interest in the study of all topics connected with our 
history, no less than in the philosophic spirit in which they 
are approached. 

One of the chief difficulties encountered in prepar- 
ing a small history of this kind, and one which con- 
stantly presents itself, is the question, " What shall be 
omitted ? " The difference between the various single- 
volume histories of America consists largely in the selection 
of topics, in their arrangement, in the degree in which 
their statements are self-exp'anatory, in the underlying and 
controlling thought, as well as in the political, moral and 
social bias of the writer. 

Special passages have been devoted to the manners and 
habits of the past, and the work has been illustrated 
throughout with extracts from letters, diaries, newspapers 
and other contemporary writings, which enliven the narra- 
tive and enable the reader to put himself in sympathy with 
the people who act in the history as it passes before 
him. Many of these appear in the form of notes, which are 
placed for convenient reference at the bottom of the pages 
to which they refer. 

Among the subjects presented with a certain degree of 
fulness, which have been sometimes slightly considered in 
single-volume histories of America, are the following, which 
seem to lie at the foundation of a true conception of the 
subject. 



viii PREFACE. 

I. The growth of the belief that the world is a globe, the discus- 
sions regarding its size, and the influence that these investi- 
gations exerted upon Columbus. 

II. The efforts towards union put forth by the Colonies and the 
States, from 1637 to the adoption of the Constitution, and the 
difficulties encountered. 

III. The jealousies between the Colonies at first, and States after- 
wards, and the Federal unions to which they belonged. The 
repeated threats of secession, from 1643 t0 *86i. 

IV. The various theories of the Constitution and Government 
arising from differences of opinion regarding the powers dele- 
gated, by the Colonies and the States, to the Federal Govern- 
ments, and the reserved powers. 

V. The growth of the National or American feeling, as shown by 
the Declaration of Rights made by Congress, in 1765, and the 
more general declaration of the principles on which those 
rights were based, made by Virginia in 1776. 

VI. The various plans for Union. 

VII. The delay in adopting the Articles of Confederation and the 
important reasons for it. The basis on which the difficulties 
growing out of the nature and extent of the grants of territory 
to the original colonies, were finally adjusted. 

VIII. The nature of the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1797 
and 1798, and their long and important influence. 

IX. The principles of the country from the beginning regarding 
fugitives from service, and the enactments made by the New 
England Confederation in 1643, m tne Constitution in 1787, 
and in the fugitive slave acts of 1793 an ^ 1850, during the ad- 
ministrations of Washington and Fillmore. 

X. The opposition of the North to war, in 1861, and the efforts to 
preserve peace. The specious sophistries and deceptions by 
which demagogues precipitated the conflict. 

XI. In order to enable the reader more readily to study some of 
these subjects, the volume is furnished with copies of original 
documents not readily accessible. 



PREFACE. 



IX 



The publishers have endeavored to make the volume 
mechanically excellent. A clear type has been used and 
illustrations have been supplied in considerable numbers. 
In selecting subjects for these cuts, scenes of battle and 
carnage have been avoided, and preference has been given 
to pictures of noted persons, buildings and natural scenery 
of the different parts of the country, and to sketches illus- 
trating the manners and work of the people at different 
periods. 

Much labor has been expended to arrive at exactness in 
dates, but even the most painstaking assiduity and the best 
intentions are insufficient to ensure perfection in this 
regard when hundreds of dates are given. The reader who 
detects errors of this kind is requested to communicate 
with the publishers, in order that the necessary changes 
may be made, should other editions be called for. 

Cambridge, June, 1883. 




CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I.— COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER. 

Plato's Story of Atlantis, I. Notions of the Form and Size of 
the Earth, 2. Mancleville, 3. Seneca, 4. Lactantius refuted, 4. 
Fabled Islands, 7. Columbus appears, 8. Applies to Portugal, — 
to Spain, 10. At Palos, 13. Agrees with Ferdinand and Isabella, 
14. His Motives, 17. America discovered, 17. Columbus dies, 
23. The Northmen, 24. 

CHAPTER II.— THE CABOTS AND OTHER DISCOVERERS. 

The Age of maritime Discovery, 28. The Cabots, 29. The Amer- 
ican Continent discovered, 29. Northeastern Route to the Indies. 
31. Nordenskiold, 31. Amerigo Vespucci, 32. Cortereal, 32. 
Ponce de Leon, 35. Balboa, 35. Cortes, 35. Magalhaens, 36, 
Verazano, 39. Coronado, Cabeza de Vaca, 41. Zuni, 41. 

CHAPTER III.— THE EARLY AMERICANS. 

The Early Americans, 43. The Various Tribes, 47. Characteristics, 
48. Cliff-Dwellings, 48. Mounds, 55. Mexican Remains, 63. 
Uxmal, Palenque, 63. Peruvian Remains, 64. 

CHAPTER IV. — DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

De Soto, 67. Orellana on the Amazon, 6S. Pizzarro, 69. Battle at 
Mavilla, 72. De Soto's romantic Burial, 72. Religious Motives 
of Kxplorers, 74. Coligni's Efforts, 76. Ribault, 76. Menendez, 
78. Dominic de Gourgues, 79. 

CHAPTER V.— ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

Frobisher, 80. Drake, 81. Raleigh, 82. " Eastward Ho ! " 84. Hak- 

luyt, 84. Jamestown, 87. Pocahontas, 88. Representative 

Government, 89. New England, 90. The Social Compact, 95. 

Landing at Plymouth, 96. Gosnold, 100. Gorges, 101. Maine, 

xi 



xu CONTENTS. 

102. Winthrop arrives, 105. Roger Williams, 106. Anne Hutch- 
inson, 107. Connecticut, 108. Saybrook settled, no. Connecti- 
cut's Constitution, 112. Pequot War, 112. The New England 
Confederation, 113. 

CHAPTER VI. —SETTLEMENTS OF THE FRENCH. 

Cartier on the St. Lawrence, 115. Intention to extend the Christian 
Religion, 115. French Names on the Map of America, 119. Car- 
tier on the St. Lawrence, 117. Samuel de Champlain in Canada, 
118. Jesuit Missionaries, 119. Jacques Marquette, 120. Jolliet 
and La Salle, i2r. The Mississippi explored, 122. Louisiana 
123. Death of La Salle, 124. 

CHAPTER VII.— THE DUTCH SETTLERS AND LATER 
COLONISTS. 

Henry Hudson, 125. Manhattan Island, 127. Stuyvesant, 128. Swed- 
ish Settlements, 129. Maryland, 132. Calvert, Baltimore, Clay- 
bourne, 133. Religious Freedom, 133. Carolina, 134. Locke's 
Government, 135. George Fox, 136. Penn, 136. Georgia, 141. 
Oglethorpe, 142. 

CHAPTER VIII. — COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

Style of Living, 144. Glass, Coaches, Forks, 146. Religious Motives 
of Settlers, 147. Intolerance, 147. Degrees of Tolerance, 148. 
Quakers and Baptists, 151. Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, 152. 
Mary Dyer, 153. Shattuck and the King's Missive, 154. Witch- 
craft, 155. Margaret Jones, 156. Giles Corey, 157. Mather, 
158. Laws about Fashions, 158. Home Manufactures, 159. 
Tobacco, 159. Quakers Care for the Sick and Insane, 160. Sun- 
day Observances, 160. Schools and Colleges, 161. The so-called 
Blue-Laws, 161. Authorship, 162. 

CHAPTER IX. — RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SETTLERS 
AND THE INDIANS AND THE FRENCH. 

Land bought of the Indians, 163. Ill Treatment of the Indians, 164. 
Treaty with Powhatan, 164. Pequots exterminated, 165. Massa- 
cre in Virginia, 165. John Eliot, the Missionary, 166. Massa- 
soit, 168. War with the Narragansetts, 168. Towns burned, 169. 



CONTENTS. xiii 

Goffe's apochryphal Appearance, 169. Massacres in Maine, 170. 
King William's War, 172. Queen Anne's War, 173. King 
George's War, 175. Father Rasle, 176. Mississippi Bubble, 178. 
Louisiana Territory, 179. Louisburg, 183 Moravians, 185, 
Ohio Claims and War, 185. Braddock, 187. Acadie devastated, 
189. Wolfe, 190. Northwestern Struggles, 192. 

CHAPTER X.— THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 

Republican Government at Jamestown, 195. Difference between the 
Colonies, 196. Slavery, 196. Assiento Treaty, 199. Whitefield 
approves Slavery, 199. England forces Slavery upon America, 
199. Jefferson protests, 201. New Englanders and Virginians, 
202. Teutonic Communities, 206. The Southern Gentleman, 207, 
Proprietary Governments, Charter Governments, and Colonies, 
208. Traits of New Yorkers, 209. A Massachusetts Contro- 
versy, 210. The Government of Andros, 211. The Charter Oak, 
214. Colonial Governors, 216. 

CHAPTER XL— LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

Independence not desired at First, 218. Union needed, 216. First 
American Congress, 219. Plans for a general Union, 220. 
Franklin's Plan, 221. Halifax's Plan, 224. Growth of the Spirit 
of Independence, 225 English Jealousy, 226. The Sugar Law, 
226. Writs of Assistance, 227. England stimulates the Slave 
Trade, 228. Stamp Act, 230 The British Ministers, 230 Virginia 
declares against Taxation without Representation, 231. Boston 
impresses herself upon the foreign Mind, 232. New York stirred, 
232. South Carolina suggests a Congress, 233. "All of us 
Americans," 233. The " paltry Tax on Tea," 235. The Boston 
Massacre, 239. The Boston Tea Party, 240. Colonial Societv, 
240. A Committee of Correspondence, 241. Gage in Boston, 242. 
The Quebec Act, 243. Congress at Philadelphia, 244. 

CHAPTER XII — WAR BEGUN. 

The Importance of Towns, 247 A Congress at Charleston, 248. 
Joseph Warren at the Old South, Boston, 250, Pitt and Burke 
against Wesley and Johnson, 252. Going to Lexington, 254. 
Revere's Ride, 255. At Lexington and Concord, 257 Flying from 
Lexington, 258. Boston besieged, 260. Tories flee, 260. Ticon- 
deroga captured, 262. The second Continental Congress in Phil- 



xiv CONTENTS. 

adelphia, 263. Washington at the Head of the Army, 264. 
Bunker Hill, 264 Georgia enters the Union, 266. 

CHAPTER XIII.— INDEPENDENCE. 

The Spirit of Washington, 267. Washington leaves Philadelphia, 267. 
Hears of the Battle of Bunker Hill, 268. Schuyler in command 
at New York, 269. Headquarters at Cambridge, 269. Distinc 
tions of Colonies to be laid aside, 271, The Nancy captured, 271. 
Howe in command at Boston, 272. Dorchester Heights fortified, 
276. Boston evacuated, 277. Royalists leave for England, 278. 
Success in Canada, 279. Arnold at Quebec, 2S0. Southern 
Operations, 2S0. Virginia asserts a Desire for Independence, 283. 
Makes a Declaration of Rights, 2S4. Declaration of Indepenence, 
2S5. First Fourth of July, 2S7. The indefinite Grants form an 
Obstacle to Union, 28S. Western Territory ceded to the United 
Colonies, 291. The National Domain, 294. 

CHAPTER XIV.— NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

Washington in New York, 296. The Howes detested, 297. The 
Retreat from Long Island, 298. Across New Jersey, 299. Con- 
gress migrates, 300. Help from France, 301. Success at Sara- 
toga, 302. Winter at Valley Forge, 303. Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 304. Wyoming and Cherry Valley, 307. Virginia conquers 
the West, 30S. American Sympathizers in England, 310. 

CHAPTER XV.— SOUTHERN OPERATIONS— PEACE. 

Savannah captured, 311. Wayne takes Stony Point, 312. Naval 
Success, 313. Paul Jones, 314. Washington at Morristown, 315. 
Currency depreciates, 316. Charleston taken by Clinton, 318. 
Southern Patriots, 31S. Arnold and Andre, 320. Cowpens, 324. 
Cornwallis surrenders, 328. George III. announces Independ- 
ence, 32c The Cincinnati, 333. Washington's Farewells, 335. 

CHAPTER XVI.— FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

A disunited Country, 337. Virginia acts, 339. Northwestern Terri- 
tory formed, 340. The Constitutional Convention, 341. Plans 
for the new Government, 342. The national Plan adopted, 344. 
Disunion, 345. Parties form, 347. The (Government formed, 349. 



CONTENTS. xv 

CHATTER XVII.— THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 

Inauguration, 353. Amendments to the Constitution, 353. The 
Cabinet, 355. National Rank, 355. Second Election, 356. Tariff 
Discussion, 357. Slavery in the Territories, 357. Fugitive Slave 
Laws, 357. Foreign Relations, 35S. Proclamation of Neutrality, 
361. Trouble with England, 362. Attacks upon Washington, 
365. Washington's Court, 366. Philadelphia Society, 368. 

CHAPTER XVIII.— FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 

Hitter Party strife, 370. Alien and sedition Acts, 371 Kentucky 
and Virginia Resolutions, 373. Madison on Nullification, 373 
Talleyrand regrets his Rashness, 375. Washington's Death, 376. 
fefferson President, 376. First Inauguration in Washington, 
378. Louisiana Purchase, 379. Internal Improvements, 3S1. 
Pirates of the Mediterranean, 382. Burr and Blennerhassett, 384. 
Foreign Commerce, 385. The great Embargo, 387. Fulton's 
Steamboat, 388. Exploration of the West, 391. Internal Im- 
provements, 393. 

CHAPTER XIX.— WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

Madison President, 394. John Henry's Scheme, 395. Orleans and 
Disunion, 396. Clay and Calhoun, 397. War declared, 398. 
Disunion again, 399. Naval Success, 400. Tecumseh and the 
Prophet, 403. Washington Burned, 407. Battle of New Orleans, 
409. Hartford Convention, 410. Treaty of Ghent, 414. Med- 
iterranean Pirates, 415. Commercial Distress, 415. 

CHAPTER XX.— THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

Monroe President, 417. Erie Canal, 418. Increase of States, 421. 
Missouri applies for Admission, 424. Slavery Excitement, 425. 
Clay's Compromises, 426. Monroe's Mission, 427. Adams 
chosen President, 427. Development of the Country, 428. Cum- 
berland Road, 428. Panama Mission, 429. Rotation in Office, 
429. 

CHAPTER XXL— NULLIFICATION, TREATY OF WASH- 
INGTON, ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 

Jackson President, 431. The Tariff of 1828, 431. An innocent 
inquiry, 432. Hayne and Webster, 432. South Carolina Acts, 



xvi CONTENTS. 

433. Jackson issues a Proclamation, 436. Whig and Locofoco, 
437. Pet Banks favored, 438. Van Buren President, 439. Sub- 
Treasury System, 440. The Hard Cider Campaign, 441. Harri- 
son President, 441. Tyler President, 442. Treaty of Washing- 
ton, 443. Texas Settled, 444. Indian Wars, 446. Seminole 
War, 447. Rebellion in Canada, 448. The Mormons, 449. The 
Dorr Rebellion, 450. 

CHAPTER XXII.— WAR WITH MEXICO. 

Polk President, 452. The Oregon Region, 454. Origin of the Mex- 
ican War, 455. Lincoln's " Spot " Resolutions, 456. Taylor in 
Mexico, 457. Scott's Plans, 458. Fremont's Success, 459. Wil- 
mot Proviso, 461- Garrison and Slavery, 462. The War 
ended, 466. The Taylor Presidential Campaign, 467. Califor- 
nia and Gold, 468. 

CHAPTER XXIIL— FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

Western Growth, 469. A " United States South " called for, 470. 
Henry Clay and Compromise, 470. Slavery Discussions, 472, 
Webster's Union Speech, 472. Robert Toombs, 473. Fugitive 
Slave Law, 474. Election of Pierce, 476. Arizona purchased, 
477. The Kansas -Nebraska Bill, 47S. John Brown in Kansas, 
481. War ahead, 4S2. Election of Buchanan, 484. Dred Scott 
Decision, 485. John Brown at Harper's Ferry, 486. Sumner 
assaulted, 488. Lincoln elected, 492. Secession, 493. Jefferson 
Davis elected, 494. Political Delusions fostered by Dema- 
gogues, 498. 

CHAPTER XXIV.— WAR FOR UNION. 

Northern Opposition to War, 501. Efforts for Peace, 502. Senator 
Crittenden, 505. The Star of the West, 50S. Sketch of Lin- 
coln, 508. The Confederate Policy as laid down by the Leaders, 
510. Sumter attacked, 511. The loyal North, 513. "On to 
Washington," 514. Bull Run and its Effects, 514. The Ala- 
bama, 516. Operations of the Mississippi, 517. The Monitors, 
519. McClellan on the Potomac, 520. Conscription, 522. Grant 
at Vicksburg, 523. Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, 
525. Battles of the Wilderness, 528. The North invaded, 529. 
Sherman's March to the Sea, 531. Emancipation, 533. Rich- 
mond evacuated, 537. The Confederates surrender, 538. Cap- 



CONTENTS. xvn 

ture of Davis, 541. Effects of the War in the South, 542. Union 
is safety, 543. 

CHAPTER XXV.— THE ERA OF PROGRESSIVE NA- 
TIONAL LIFE. 

Lincoln's reconstruction Policy, 545. Johnson impeached, 547. 
Heavy Taxes, 548. Ocean Telegraphy, 548. Purchase of Alaska, 
551. Constitutional Amendments, 552. The Pacific Railwav 
completed, 554. Monentary Troubles, 557. The Ku-klux Klan 
558. Great Fires in Chicago and Boston, 559. Grant re-elected 
560. Financial Troubles, 561. Western Railways, 562. The 
Centennial Exhibition, 563. A political Crisis, 565. Sketch of 
President Hayes, 566. Railway Riots, 567. The South scourged, 
567. Northern Sympathy, 568. The Negro Exodus, 569. Gold 
Payments resumed, 570. Election of Garfield, 571. President 
Arthur takes his Place, 572. Civil Service Reform, 573. Review 
of the Tariff, 573. A Retrospect, 576. Religious Bodies, 580. 
Invention and Manufactures, 582. The Telegraph, 585. Colleges, 
587. American Literature, 590. Herbert Spencer on America, 
596. Daniel Webster on the Union, 597. 

DOCUMENTS — ILLUSTRATING THE CONSTITUTIONAL 
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The Social Compact signed in the Cabin of the Mayflower, 601. The 
Articles of Confederation of the New England Colonies, 601. 
The Declaration of Independence, 607. Articles of Confedera- 
tion of the Thirteen Colonies, 611. A Declaration of Rights 
made by the Representatives of the Good People of Virginia, 
618. The Constitution of the United States, 621. Amend- 
ments to the Constitution, 632. The Virginia Resolutions of 
1798, 637, The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, 640. The Ken- 
tucky Resolutions of 1799, passed in Response to the Resolutions 
of the other States in Reply to the Resolutions of 1798, 645. 

INDEX 647 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Columbus the Discoverer 

Caravels of Columbus 

Martin Behaim's Map (1492) 

Christopher Columbus (medallion) 

Columbus before the Junta . 

A Ship of Columbus, from a drawing attributed to Him 

Columbus welcomed to Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella 

Ruins of Columbus' House, St. Domingo 

Arms of Columbus 

The Round Tower at Newport 

Watch Tower, Yucatan 

Portrait of Sebastian Cabot 

Medallion, Amerigo Vespucci 

Map showing the Routes of the early Discoverers 

Ruins of Tuloom, Yucatan, on the Route of Cortes 

Old Drawing of a Ship of the Early Discoverers 

The Pueblo of Zufii 

The Governor of Zuni 

Modern Indians .... 

The Pueblo of Zuni, New Mexico 

Manufactures of California Indians 

Ground Plan of a Pueblo in Chaco Canon, 

Mexico 
Cliff-dwellings in Southwestern Arizona 
Indian Pappoose 

Grand Canon, Arizona, looking East 
Interior of a Zuni House 
Indian Weapons 
On the Route of Pizarro 
The Inca Huascar 
Guatemalian Idol 
A Mexican Temple 
The Mayflower 
Map of Cape Cod 

xix 



Northern 



Frontispiece. 
1 
5 



19 



25 
26 
27 
32 
33 
37 
40 
42 
43 
44 
45 
47 

49 
5i 
54 
56 
61 

65 
67 
69 
7i 
75 
80 
81 



New 



xx ILL US TRA TIONS. 

Sir Francis Drake's Chair 82 

Leyden Street, Plymouth, Mass 86 



Chair of Elder Brewster 



9' 



The first New England Washing-Day 93 

Autograph of William Bradford 95 

Burial Hill, Plymouth, Mass 97 

Autograph of Miles Standish, also His Kettle, Sword and Dish 99 

The busy Loom of the early Settlers 102 

A Puritan Daughter m 

A Colonial Interior .114 

Jacques Cartier " . u6 

A garrison House 120 

La Salle on a Voyage . . . . . . . . .122 

Map of the early American Settlements 125 

Entering New York Harbor in modern Times .... 126 

New Amsterdam 128 

New York in 1720 131 

The Natural Bridge, Virginia 137 

An old-time Home . . 143 

The Ingleside 144 

The early American Woman at Work ..... 145 

The early New England Schoolmaster and His Pupils . . 149 

The weaving Room . . . . . . . 1 57 

The early American Boy out of School (swingling Flax) . . 161 

Grandfather's Trunk 162 

A Pioneer's Home ......... 165 

Building a Wigwam 171 

Statue of Benjamin Franklin at Philadelphia . . . 181 

Braddock's Headquarters in Western Virginia .... 187 

Death of General Wolfe 190 

Monument to General Wolfe at Quebec . . . 193 
A Southern Mansion. The Arlington House, overlooking Wash- 
ington 197 

An humble New England Home. Birthplace of the Author of 

the "Old Oaken Bucket." 200 

The old Capital of Virginia ....... 203 

An American Schoolhouse in a pioneer Settlement . . • 205 

An erring young Colonist ........ 207 

Washington's Home at Mount Vernon ..... 208 

The Old South Church, Boston 213 

The colonial Shoemaker's Infrequent Visit .... 214 

Breaking Flax 217 

Map of the eastern Colonies * 218 



ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi 

Benjamin Franklin's Birthplace 220 

Map of the Colonies at the Time of the Revolution . . . 235 

Faneuil Hall, Boston 237 

House of Lieutenant-Governor Oliver, in Cambridge. Now the 

Home of James Russell Lowell ..... 243 

Beating Damask 247 

Pulpit Window of the Old South, through which Warren entered 251 

General Gage 253 

Headquarters of the Committee of Safety, Cambridge, Birth- 
place cf the Poet Holmes 255 

The old Battle Ground, Concord, Mass 257 

Portrait of Israel Putnam 259 

The old Manse, Concord, through which the Wife of the Rev. 

William Emerson watched the Battle .... 262 

Map of Boston and Vicinity 265 

British Stamps for the American Market 267 

Portrait of Martha Washington 268 

The Washington Elm, Cambridge, Mass 270 

The Minute Man. 273 

Washington reviewing the Continental Army (after a painting by 

Wadsworth Thompson) 281 

House in which the Declaration of Independence was written 285 

Autographs of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence 292 

Saratoga Lake 301 

Kosciusko's Monument, Fort Clinton, West Point . . . 306 
Bartholdi's Statue of the young Lafayette, Union Square, New 

York 309 

Continental Currency 313 

Lord Cornwallis 317 

John Andre 320 

Monument to Paulding, Williams and Van Wart . . . 322 

View from West Point 323 

Headquarters of Cornwallis at Yorktown .... 328 

House in which the Articles of Capitulation were signed at York- 
town ........... 329 

Washington's Headquarters at Newburg ..... 334 

Cooking the Turkey in the old Times 336 

President Washington 350 

Monticello, the home or Jefferson 356 

Northern Scenery. The Conway Meadows, New Hampshire 359 

Southern Scenery. On the Savannah River .... 363 
The House of John Hancock, Beacon street, Boston. Removed 

in 1863 367 



xxii ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The University of Virginia 373 

Washington's Tomb 377 

Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. . . . 3S3 

Pike's Peak, in the Heart of the Continent .... 386 

Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado 388 

Coaching revived 392 

Lake Erie, opposite the City of Erie, Pa 401 

Niagara Falls 405 

Statue of President Jackson at New Orleans .... 409 
Boston Harbor. Taking a Pilot in rough Weather . . .411 

In an old Drawing-Room 416 

The Capitol at Washington 419 

The Presidential Mansion at Washington . . . .421 

Starting for the West . . 423 

Bunker Hill Monument 425 

A Post Station on the Prairies 430 

Webster at Marshfield 431 

Charleston, South Carolina ....... 433 

The first House built in Chicago 441 

President Harrison's Grave at North Bend, Ohio . . . 443 

The Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City 447 

House of the late Brigham Young, Salt Lake City . . . 449 

Portrait of James Russell Lowell . . . . . . 453 

Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson 455 

The Home of Emerson, Concord, Mass 458 

Some American Coins 460 

San Francisco in 1849 . 463 

San Francisco at a later Period .... ... 466 

Standing Rocks on the Brink of Mu-av Canon, Colorado . . 468 

Western Indians Gambling . . . , . . 471 

The Home of Washington Irving, Sunnyside, Irvington . . 475 

Crossing the Continent a Generation ago ..... 479 

Paul Hamilton Hayne, the Poet of the South .... 483 

Harper's Ferry, Va. 487 

Southern Scenery. Lake Roland, near Baltimore, Md. . . 489 

Suspension Bridge and Niagara Falls 495 

Fort Sumter - 498 

President Lincoln 503 

Portrait of John G. Whittier . 506 

Fort Sumter after the Bombardment 511 

The House of John G. Whittier 518 

Southern Scenery. View from Lookout Mountain . . . 525 

Petersburg, Va 530 



ILLUSTRATIONS. xxiii 

Logging in the far West 535 

Richmond, Va., and the Washington Monument . . . 539 

Flowers of Peace 544 

Silver Mining in Nevada 549 

The Product of the Pacific Silver Mines 553 

Inspection Car on the Great Pacific Railway, approaching 

St. Lake 555 

Horace Greeley's Birthplace ....... 559 

The Art Gallery at the Centennial Exhibition .... 564 

Portrait of William Cullen Bryant 568 

Portrait of President Garfield 572 

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y 577 

Vassar College Observatory 579' 

An American Railway Station ....... 583 

An Ocean Steamer 584 

Principal Building of Wellesley College, seen over Lake Waban 586 

Longfellow — His Portrait and Birthplace in Portland, Me. . 591 

Stone Hall, Wellesley College 595 

Portrait of William Dean Howells ...... 596 

Symbols of our Age 598 




HISTORY OF 

THEAMERICAN PEOPLE 



CHAPTER I. 

COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER. 

There shall come a time in later ages, when Ocean shall relax his 
chains and a vast continent appear, and a pilot shall find new worlds 
and Thule shall be no more Earth's bound. — Seneca's Medea, li. 371. 

HE history of the New 
World is entered by the 
gate of Romance. For 
many centuries the in- 
habitants of the East- 
ern continents had been 
looking to the westward 
for an undiscovered land 
of marvels. Plato had 
told the story of the 
famous island of Atlan- 
tis, describing with fas- 
cinating minuteness, the 
salubrity of the climate, 
the beauty of the natural 
scenery, the lofty moun- 
tains, abundant rivers, 
useful animals, rich mineral resources, the happiness 
of the sturdy and wealthy people who had the good 
fortune to be its inhabitants. The information regard- 
ing this fortunate land he asserted had been derived 




CARAVELS OF COLUMBI's. 



2 COL UMB US THE DISCO VERER. 

by Solon from an old priest in Egypt. It cannot 
now be determined that there was any other founda- 
tion than the imagination for the belief that there 
existed another continent beyond the Pillars of Her- 
cules, but certain it is that as the idea that the earth 
was spherical in form became more and more firmly 
fixed in the minds of men, the opinion rapidly gained 
ground that the Eastern continents were but com- 
paratively a small portion of the land of the world. 

The growth of this belief constitutes an interesting 
study. Both the shape and the size of the globe were 
unknown in ancient times. The earth was at first 
supposed to be a stationary plain, but at as early a 
date as the seventh century before Christ, Anaximan- 
der of Miletus, held that it was of cylindrical form. 

Four centuries later, Eratosthenes, the learned 
librarian of Alexandria, the founder of geodesy, who 
first raised geography to the rank of a science, consid- 
ered the globe an immovable sphere, and constructed 
maps on mathematical principles, using for the first 
time, parallels of longitude and latitude. Ptolemy, the 
Alexandrian astronomer, in the second century after 
Christ, re-asserted the spherical form of the earth, 
using the good reasons that were afterwards presented 
by Copernicus ( 1543 ). They had been proved true 
by the circumnavigation of the globe by Magalhaens, 
in 15 19. 

Eratosthenes calculated that the earth was 252,000 
" stadia " in circumference, but the unit of his measure 
is lost; and Pliny estimated this at 31,500 Roman 
miles, or a little over 28,000 English miles. In the 
ninth century, during the caliphate of Almamoun, 
the Arabian astronomers fixed the circumference of 



THE TERRESTRIAL PARADISE. 3 

the earth at about 24,000 miles. Sir John Mande- 
ville,' the English traveller, placed it at 20,425 miles, 
" in roundness and circuit above and beneath," but 
Columbus thought it considerably less, and believed 
that the shores of Asia were proportionally nearer to 
the Azores. The ancient estimates were too great, 
and the later measures too small, but the mistakes of 
Columbus exerted an important influence upon history, 
for had he known the actual distance from Europe to 
Asia, measured westward, he would never have ven- 
tured to try to cross the vast distance in his insignifi- 
cant vessels. 

One of the most marked utterances of the ancients 
regarding the fabled land to the westward, is that of 
Seneca, a translation of which by archbishop Whately, 
is given at the head of this chapter. This philosopher, 
a native of Cordova in Spain, and teacher of the Em- 
peror Nero, died in the year 65. His lines crys- 
tallize the thoughts that had long been current, 
perhaps giving them a more prophetic tone than any 
other than a philosopher and a poet would have used. 

Readers of Dante are familiar with the belief that 
the Terrestrial Paradise existed on the other side of 
the globe, at the antipodes of Jerusalem — a point by 
the way, in the Pacific Ocean, near Tahiti. The 
desire to know where Paradise had been was one of 
the most firmly fixed in the mediaeval mind. It was 
discussed in the fourth century with rapturous elo- 
quence, by St. Basil and St. Ambrose, in their works 
on Paradise. They represented that there pure and 
eternal pleasures were furnished to every sense, the 
air was always balmy, the skies serene, and the inhabi- 
tants enjoyed perpetual youth and bliss without a care. 



4 COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER. 

In the century before the discovery of our conti- 
nent, Sir John Mandeville had come home from the 
East (1356) with particular descriptions of the region 
about the Terrestrial Paradise. He described the 
noise, the roughness of the country, the fierceness of 
the beasts, and the other obstacles put in the way of 
adventurous travellers who would penetrate the abode 
of our first parents. The same traveller had told his 
wondering countrymen the marvellous tale of the wealth 
and grandeur of the Grand Khan, of the province of 
Cathay and the city of Cambalu.* 

Marco Polo, a few years earlier had gone farther, 
and had described the magnificence of the island of 
Cipango (Japan), which he said lay fifteen hundred 
miles to the eastward of China. 

Besides, the imagination had firmly fixed in men's 
minds a belief in the existence of lands of fabulous 
wealth to the westward of Europe. On the maps of 
the time of Columbus, we find the island of St. Bran- 
dan laid down at a distance of some six hundred 
miles beyond the Canary Islands, and the Island of 

* Mandeville said that experience and understanding prove that 
a ship might sail " all round the earth, above and beneath, " but that 
the globe is so great that it would not be apt to return to the place 
from which it set out, " unless by chance, or by the grace of God." 
He showed that when it is day in England, it is night on the other 
side of the earth, and assured "simple and unlearned men " that they 
need have no fear of falling off towards the heavens, thereby confuting 
the ridicule that Lactantius, in the fourth century, sought to cast upon 
the doctrine of antipodes, when he said: " Is there any one so foolish 
as to believe that there are antipodes with their feet opposite to ours ; 
people who walk with their heels upward and their heads hanging 
down ? That there is a part of the world in which all things are topsv- 
turvy : where the trees grow with their branches downward, and where 
it rains, hails and snows upward?" 



THE FABLED ISLANDS. 7 

the Seven Cities further to the north. This island 
had not disappeared from the maps as late as 1755, 
whe,n a French geographer placed it upon his chart. 
With both of these islands there were associated mar- 
vellous stories. Concerning the first, it was related 
that St. Brandan, a Scotch or Irish abbot of the sixth 
century, sailed out into the great ocean in search of an 
island of which he had heard that enjoyed the delights 
of Paradise, but was inhabited by infidels. Before he 
arrived at the spot, he found, on another island, the 
body of a giant lying in a sepulchre. This he resus- 
citated, and the giant, after giving accounts of the 
sufferings of Jews and Pagans in the infernal regions, 
was converted and baptized. He told the saint that 
he knew the island for which he was seeking, and 
undertook to direct him to it. The search proved 
unsuccessful ; but the island that the people of the 
Canaries supposed they could see from their shores, 
long bore the name of St. Brandan.* At a later 
period it was the subject of much grave official inquiry, 
and so satisfactory was the evidence of its existence, 
that in 1526, 1570, 1605, and even 1721, expeditions 
were actually sent to search for it, though it always 
refused to be discovered. 

The Island of the Seven Cities was connected with 
the Moorish conquest of Spain, in the eighth century, 
when the inhabitants fled in all directions. Seven 
bishops, with a great number of people, founded seven 
cities on a large island in the ocean. Mariners were 
found who related that they had actually visited the 

* See Longfellow's " The Poets and Poetry of Europe," page 372 ; 
also poems by Matthew Arnold and Denis Florence McCarthy, on St. 
Brandan ; and the appendix to Irving' s " Columbus," vol. iii p. 403. 



8 



COL UMB US THE DIS CO I ^EKEB. 



island ; and their story of the strange inhabitants 
gained much currency. The island was laid down on 
the maps under the name of Antilla. 

Romance had connected itself also with the island 
of Maderia, which was said to have been discovered 
by an Englishman, who in the reign of Edward III. 
(about 1350) had fallen in love with a maiden above 
him in social importance. The marriage being impos- 
sible in England, the lovers took ship surreptitiously, 
intending to land in France ; but after a voyage of four- 
teen days found themselves in a country of Arcadian 
loveliness. A tempest destroyed their vessel, leaving 
the lovers alone in a strange land. The lady died, 
reproaching herself at being the cause of the misfor- 
tune, and her lover soon followed her to the grave. 

In this age of romance, at 
about the middle of the fif- 
teenth century, there ap- 
peared from the obscurity 
of an humble social position, 
a young Italian seaman who 
was destined to revolutionize 
the world. He was inured 
to hardship, and had passed 
the apprenticeship of a 
rigid discipline on board a ship engaged in pred- 
atory warfare against the enemies of Genoa. He had 
studied geography, geometry and astronomy in the 
great school of Pavia, and in the northern and south- 
ern seas, for he had sailed to Iceland, and a hundred 
leagues beyond it,* curious to know if that frozen land 

*Humbolt asserts that in Scandanavia Columbus learned traditions 
which confirmed him in his views regarding a Western continent. 




THE DISCOVERER'S PREPARATION. 9 

were inhabited, and had visited the gold coast of 
Guinea. He appears to us at the age of about thirty- 
five, in the city of Lisbon, tall, well formed and mus- 
cular, with hair prematurely white — a man of dignified 
demeanor and the air of authority. Italy had held up 
the torch of learning during the ages of darkness, and 
had carried the civilizing influence of commerce to 
other parts ; but at this time the court of Portugal 
was the most attractive to one of the spirit of Colum- 
bus, for Prince Henry, the third son of John the 
Great, known as " the Navigator," had made the coun- 
try foremost among the powers of Europe in enlarg- 
ing the scope of geographical knowledge. 

Columbus married the daughter of a noted Italian 
navigator, Palestrello, and through this connection 
added to his opportunities for knowledge of the sort 
that he had before most loved. He studied the rude 
maps at his disposal, listened to the stories of roman- 
tic travellers, and read the prophecies in the Bible of 
the universal diffusion of the gospel. This inspired 
him with a desire to recover the holy sepulchre and to 
carry the gospel to the countries to the eastward. As 
he looked westward, and thought of the 

Summer isles of Eden lying in dark purple spheres of sea, 

he yearned to sail in that direction also, confident that 
he should arrive at the famed island of Cipango 
(Japan), and the country of the great Cham. He 
considered the stories of the islands of St. Brandan 
and of the Seven Cities as mere illusions, charming as 
they were to the fancy ; but he did not give up a hope 
of being able to get near the confines of the Terres- 
trial Paradise. 



10 COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER. 

His application to Portugal for aid in equipping a 
fleet to sail west to find the coast of the Indies, was 
defeated through the jealousy of the maritime junta 
and the council of John the Great ; and Columbus 
sent his brother to repeat the proposals to Henry 
VII. of England, while he went to Spain. That 
country was then ruled by Ferdinand and Isabella 
and was engaged in the closing struggles which led 
to the fall of Granada, in the first month of 1492. 
For seven years the earnest advocate of western dis- 
covery remained in Spain, subject to alternations of 
hope and discouragement, and it is asserted that he 
took active and honorable part in the operations of 
the army of Ferdinand and Isabella against the 
Moors. 

In 1485 he had an audience with the Grand Cardi- 
nal of Spain, at Cordova. This prelate was at first 
inclined to the opinion that the views propounded by 
Columbus controverted the Scriptures ; but finally, 
impressed by the grandeur of the proposition of the 
simple navigator, he decided that it was worthy of 
being brought to the notice of the sovereigns. Fer- 
dinand was impressed as his cardinal had been, but he 
felt that prudence demanded that he should obtain 
the opinions of others. He therefore convened a con- 
ference of clerical sages at the convent of St. Stephen 
at Salamanca, before which Columbus argued his 
cause — the cause, as it proved, of a new world. He 
had before him the wisdom of the time, which was 
supported on the greatest authorities of the past, both 
lay and clerical. It was not known that the theory 
of Ptolemy was to be overthrown by Copernicus, who, 
then a mere boy, was pursuing his preliminary studies 



COLUMBUS BEGGING BREAD. J:! 

in a town of West Prussia. St. Augustine and Lac- 
tantius, besides other ancient writers, were quoted in 
opposition to the theory that there were antipodes ; 
and Columbus was asked how his theory could be 
made to conform to the statements of David and St. 
Paul, who speak of the heavens as spread out as a 
curtain and as a tent ? Though some of the members 
of the council were convinced of the force of the navi- 
gator's arguments, there proved to be a mass of 
bigotry in others too great for him to overcome. His 
petition was postponed and his heart was sick. 

With his little boy, he one day asked bread and 
water at the door of the convent of Santa Maria de 
Rabida, just out of the seaport of Palos, in Andalusia.* 
His appearance attracted the attention of the prior, 
who listened to his story, and finally obtained for him 
an audience at court, where his enterprise would have 
received support, had it not been for the fact that 
Columbus refused to listen to any but princely terms. 
He was again on the point of turning from Spain, 
when the sympathies of the queen were excited, and 
she offered to pledge her jewels to aid the venture. 
The keeper of the crown ecclesiastical revenues, Luis 
de St. Angel, assured her that this was unnecessary, as 
he was ready to advance the money. The offer was 
accepted, and the funds were provided from the coffers 
of Arragon. Columbus was actually on his way to 
Cordova from Santa Fe, when this decision was 
reached, and was loth to return with the messenger 
who had been summoned to call him back, lest he 
should meet more sickening delays. 

* For an interesting account of a visit to Palos, see living's " Colum- 
bus," vol. iii., Appendix. 



14 



COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER. 



On the seventeenth of April, 1492, the agreement 
between Ferdinand and Isabella, proud sovereigns of 




A ^IIII' OF COLUMBUS FROM A DRAWING ATTRIBUTED TO HIM. 

Castile and Arragon on the one part, and Christopher 
Columbus, mariner, on the other, were signed at 
Granada ; and on Friday, the third of August, 1492, 



MOTIVES OF COLUMBUS. 15 

Columbus set sail from the port of Palos on his mo- 
mentous quest, bearing letters to the Grand Khan of 
Tartary, whose subjects he expected to convert to the 
Christian religion. Though this was one of the chief 
ends aimed at by Columbus, in which the gracious 
Isabella sympathized with him, it is probably true 
that Ferdinand was actuated by a desire to further 
the limits of his power, for all heathen peoples were 
then considered fair spoil by the Christians, and Fer- 
dinand was familiar with the stories of the fabulous 
wealth of Ormus and of Ind, which had fired the 
mediaeval imagination for ages. 

The motives of Columbus are best stated in the 
words that he recorded in his diary, as he started on 
the voyage. They are the impressive words of a man 
deeply in earnest. It begins thus : 

In Nomine d. n. Jesu Christi. Whereas, most Christian, most 
high, most excellent, and most powerful princes, king and queen of 
the Spains, and of the islands of the sea, our sovereigns, in the present 
year of 1492, after your highnesses had put an end to the war with the 
Moors who ruled in Europe, and had concluded that warfare in the 
great city of Granada, where, on the second of January, of this present 
year, I saw the royal banners of your highnesses placed by force of 
arms on the towers of the Alhambra, which is the fortress of that city, 
and beheld the Moorish king sally forth from the gates of the city, 
and kiss the royal hands of your highnesses and of my lord the prince ; 
and immediately in that same month, in consequence of the informa- 
tion which I had given to your highnesses of the lands of India, and of 
a prince who is called the Grand Khan, which is to say, in our lan- 
guage, ' King of Kings ' ; how that many times he and his predeces- 
sors had sent to Rome, to entreat for doctors of our holy faith to in- 
struct him in the same ; and that the holy father had never provided 
him with them, and thus so many people were lost, believing in idola- 
tries, and imbibing doctrines of perdition ; therefore your highnesses, 
as Catholic Christians and princes, lovers and promoters of the holy 
Christian faith, and enemies of the sect of Mahomet, and of all idola- 
tries and heresies, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to 



16 COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER, 

the said parts of India, to sec t lie said princes and the people and 
lands, and discover the nature and disposition of them all, and the 
means to be taken for the conversion of them to our holy faith ; and 
ordered that I should not go by land to the East, by which it is the 
custom to go, but by a voyage to the West, by which course, unto the 
present time, we do not know for certain that any one hath passed. 
Your highnesses, therefore, having expelled all the Jews from your 
kingdoms and territories, commanded me, in the same month of Janu- 
ary, to proceed with a sufficient armament to the said parts of India ; 
and for this purpose bestowed great favors upon me, ennobling me, 
that thenceforward I might style myself Don, appointing me high ad- 
miral of the Ocean sea, and perpetual viceroy and governor of all the 
islands and continents I should discover and gain, and which hence- 
forward may be discovered and gained in the Ocean sea, and that my 
eldest son should succeed me, and so on from generation to genera- 
tion forever. I departed, therefore, from the citv of Uranada, on Sat- 
urday, the twelfth of May, of the same year, 1492, to Palos, a seaport, 
where I armed three ships, well calculated for such service, and sailed 
from that port well furnished with provisions and with many seamen, 
on Friday, the third of August, of the same year, half an hour before sun- 
rise and took the route for the Canary Islands of your highnesses', to 
steer my course thence, and navigate until I should arrive at the Indies 
and deliver the embassy of your highnesses to those princes, and ac- 
complish that which you had commanded. 

In these words we have set before us the lofty 
motives with which Columbus started on his voyage. 
They convey no intimation of the conflicting feelings 
which were at work in his heart. They do not express 
the exultation with which he was filled, nor the dan- 
ger in which he stood from his own men. We can 
scarcely appreciate the loneliness of the admiral on 
this voyage. His fellow-voyagers had little sympathy 
with his faith in the possibilities of the enterprise. 
One of the Pinzons, the commander of the Pinta, one 
of the three vessels which set sail with the Santa 
Man'a, on which Columbus hoisted his flag as admiral, 
deserted off the coast of Cuba and hastened home, 
apparently to anticipate Columbus in giving to the 



EXULTANT JOY AT PALOS. 17 

sovereigns the startling intelligence of the discovery 
of a new world. 

We are to think of this man of faith standing on 
the deck of his frail vessel day after day, surrounded 
by men whose minds, clouded by superstition, were 
ready to accept every appearance as portentous with 
same omen, ready to unite against their commander, 
to cast him into the sea and to turn their backs on his 
prophetic visions. 

Seventy times the sun rose and went down in the 
shoreless ocean. Often were efforts made to turn the 
leader from his determination to steer straight west- 
ward. Often did hope rise, but to be followed by de- 
spair, as the signs of land melted away in the waste 
of waters ; but the hero was not to be deterred. He 
pressed forward, and, on the evening of the eleventh 
of October, had the satisfaction of catching a glimpse 
of lights. Scarce able to believe that his hopes were 
already fulfilled, Columbus called others to look in the 
distance. They supported his testimony ; and on the 
morning of the twelfth, the gun of the Pinta gave the 
signal that Rodrigo de Triana had actually descried 
land. On that Friday morning, with appropriate 
insignia of authority, the admiral set foot on the Wes- 
tern Hemisphere, taking possession of the country 
with religious ceremonies, in the name of Ferdinand 
and Isabella. 

On the thirteenth of the following March, Columbus 
landed again at Palos and was received with that 
agitation and exultant joy with which a superstitious 
people in that age would be expected to greet the 
return of those long mourned as lost, who at last had 
come back in triumph. It is said that as the bells of 



18 COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER. 

Palos were sounding out the peals of welcome to Co- 
lumbus, the deserter Pinzon entered the port. His 
heart sank within him as he understood the cause of 
the sounds with which his ears were greeted ; and he 
soon after died, a victim of chagrin. 

We cannot give an account of the princely honors 
that were showered upon Columbus. He was re- 
ceived by the sovereigns, seated in state, and, as a 
special mark of honor, was ordered to be himself 
seated in their presence. Isabella listened with in- 
terest to his story of adventure, and the people hailed 
him with the same applause that would have been 
awarded to a great conqueror. 

It was an island upon which Columbus had landed 
in 1492, and he did not touch upon our continent 
until August, 1498, when he visited Paria, in South 
America. He had been anticipated in discovering 
the mainland by Sebastian Cabot, who had seen the 
shores of Labrador, in June, 1497. We have nothing 
to do here with the expeditions of the Northmen, 
who are said to have visited America in the eleventh 
century, for, admitting that the records found in the 
sagas are true statements of historic facts, their visits 
did not lead to settlements of lasting importance. 
To Columbus belongs the undivided honor of first 
making real the grand idea of the Western World. 
His discovery led to all that has since been achieved 
on our continent. He experienced to the utmost the 
solitude of greatness, and he will be forever honored 
in the annals of men as the foremost among dis- 
coverers. 

He was alone, however, only in the indefatigable 
pursuit of the great idea that he had made his own. 



THE RIVER OF LIFE. 



21 



In other respects he shared the superstitions and 
prejudices of his age. A marked token of this is 
found in the fact that he made, in 1 501, elaborate plans 
for an expedition to recover the holy sepulchre from 
the Moslems. This was before his fourth voyage, 
when he was at Granada trying to put his affairs into 




RUINS OF COLUMBUS HOUSE, ST. DOMING) >. 

order, after the great confusion into which they had 
fallen subsequent to his third voyage. That voyage 
was one of the sad experiences of his sad life. He 
had fondly thought that he had actually discovered 
the River of Life flowing from the Tree of Life in the 
midst of the Terrestrial Paradise, when sailing off the 
Oronoco river, and while in this exalted state, he had 



22 COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER. 

been involved through the jealousy of courtiers in 
Spain, and the dissensions of his own men, had 
been superseded in command and taken to Spain in 
irons. The burst of popular indignation caused by 
his arrival in this condition, forced Ferdinand to disa- 
vow connection with the transaction, and Columbus 




ARMS OF COLUMUl^.. 



went to the New World again, but he never regained 
his prestige. 

He had vowed that he would furnish within seven 
years after the discovery of the Western Continent, 
a force of fifty thousand foot and five thousand horse, 
to recover the holy sepulchre. He had not derived 



T)EA Til OF COL T 'MP, I 's. 23 

from his discoveries the expected means to do this ; 
but he endeavored to incite the sovereigns to the en- 
terprise. He set himself to the study of the Bible, 
the Fathers, and all other works from which he could 
hope for arguments to support his scheme. He said 
that he had been set apart from infancy by Heaven 
for the accomplishment of the discovery of the New 
World and the rescue of the sepulchre. He argued 
with the court with eloquence ; and when Vasco de 
Gama had achieved the signal success of sailing to 
India around the Cape of Good Hope, the old desire 
revived ; he was roused to emulation, and pleaded for 
an equipment to enable him to search for a strait, 
which he supposed he should find near the Isthmus of 
Darien, that would give him a direct route to the 
Indies. He thus worked upon the cupidity of Ferdi- 
nand, and was sent on his fourth voyage May 9, 1502. 
He did not forget his other project, however, and 
wrote a letter of apology to the Pope, in which he 
gave the reasons for postponing his pious enterprise. 
Columbus returned from his fourth voyage in No- 
vember, 1504, and died in neglect, poverty, and pain, 
at Valladolid, on the twentieth of May, 1506. He 
was honored with a pompous funeral, and on his mon- 
ument the inscription was put, — 

A Cast ilia y a Leon 
Nuevo 111 undo dio Colo//.* 

The body of Columbus was destined to almost as 
many vicissitudes after death as it had experienced in 
life. Deposited first in the parochial church at Val- 

* To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world. 



24 COLl TM B I ' S THE DIS CO YEBER. 

ladolid, it was afterwards transferred to Seville, where 
that of his son Diego was also deposited ; and in 
1536, both were removed to Hispaniola and buried in 
the chief chapel of the Cathedral of San Domingo. 
There the remains of Columbus are supposed to rest 
still, a box containing them having been found with 
evidences of its authenticity, in September, 1877, 
though it is believed that the remains of Diego were 
removed to Havana, in 1795. 



Beautiful realm beyond the western main, 

That hymns thee ever with resounding wave, 
Thine is the glorious sun's peculiar reign ! 

F"iuits, flowers, and gems, in rich mosaic pave 
Thy paths; like giant altars o'er the plain 

Thy mountains blaze, loud thundering, 'mid the rave 
Of mighty streams, that shoreward rush amain, 

Like Polypheme from his Etnean cave. 
Joy, joy, for Spain ! A seaman's hand confers 
These glorious gifts, and half the world is hers ! 

But where is he — that light whose radiance glows 
The loadstar of succeeding mariners? 

Behold him! crushed beneath o'ermastering woes — 
Hopeless, heartbroken, chained, abandoned to his iocs ! 

— Sir Aubrey de Vere. 



The legends of the Norsemen whom the Sagas tell us came to these 
shores five hundred years before Columbus, belong rather to the 
domain of the antiquary or the poet than to that of the historian. 
While, as Dr. Palfrey says, it is nowise unlikely that these sturdy voy- 
agers pushed their keels as far as the Western continent, it is surely 
true that they left nothing which has impressed our civilization or our 
history. The Round Tower at Newport, and the skeleton found at 
Fall River, Mass., gave Mr. Longfellow an opportunity to bring a 
romantic voice from the past, though it related a tale that the Sagas 
had forgotten ; but the acute criticism of Dr. Palfrey has conclusively 



THE ROUND TOWER AT NEWPORT. 



25 



shown that the Tower was rather built by a man of peace than by "A 
Viking ok!," being mock-lied after the windmill of Chesterton, Eng- 
land, of which he gives a cut.* 

An unshapely block of stone dug up on the banks of the Merrimac 
has given Mr. Whittier ground for his charming verses "The Norse- 
men," and we may thank him that his poetic mind is so fashioned 

that it, — 



From the waste of time behind 
A simple stone or mound of earth 
Can summon the departed forth ; 
Quicken the past to life again, 

Though we must add with him, — 

If it be the chiselled limb. 
Of Ilerserker or idol grim, — 
A fragment of Valhalla's Thor, 
The stormy Viking's god of war, 
Or Praga of the Runic lay, 
Or love awakening Siona, 
I know not. 

Neither can we get satisfaction 
from the so-called " writing " on 
THE BOUND TOWEB AT NEWPOKT. the rock at Berkeley, opposite 

Dighton on the Taunton River, 
which can hardly be tortured into anything of historic value, nor traced 
to a time anterior to 1680. 




* " History of New England," vol. i. p. 58. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE CABOTS AND OTHER DISCOVERERS. 



. . The black northeaster, 
Through the snowstorm hurled, 

Drives our English hearts of oak 
Seaward round the world. 




A 



"WATCH TOWER. YUCATAN. 



T this period there was 
a centre of interest 
in maritime discovery in the 
west of England, as well as 
in Spain and Portugal, and it 
was from the city of Bristol 
that the navigator went out 
who achieved the first discov- 
ery of our continent. 
The history of the American people is but a con- 
tinuation of the history of the people of England, and 
it was fitting that the voyager who discovered our 
land should have sailed from the shores of the Mother 
Country. The offer which Columbus had authorized 
his brother to make to King Henry VII., was prof- 
fered at about the time that the Red Rose and the 
White had been united (in the persons of that monarch 
and Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward IV.) at the 
close of the disastrous War of the Roses.* 

* Bartholomew Columbus started for England in 1484 and returned 
to his famous brother ten years later. The War of the Roses closed 
in 1485. 

26 




SEBASTIAN CABOT. 



PRIMA VISTA. 29 

The peace that ensued had given a new impetus to 
commerce as well as to enterprise, and it is said, in a 
letter of Don Pedro de Azala, written in 1498, that for 
seven years the people had been sending out vessels 
from Bristol to find the islands of Brazil and the island 
of the Seven Cities. In 1495 a patent was granted to 
John Cabot (or Kabotte) and his sons Lewis, Sebas- 
tian and Sanctus, authorizing them to go in search of 
islands, provinces or regions hitherto unseen by Chris- 
tians 1 , and to take possession of them for the English 
crown, the exclusive right of trade being awarded to 
them on condition that one fifth of their gains should 
be paid to the King. Under this authority John 
Cabot, accompanied by his son Sebastian, sailed from 
Bristol in May, 1497, and at the distance of "some 
seven hundred leagues," according to his computation, 
arrived, as he supposed, at the shores of the kingdom 
of the Grand Cham. He must have suffered a revul- 
sion of feelings as he saw the land, for he had actually 
come upon the dreary shores of Cape Breton Island, 
or possibly of Labrador, which he called " Prima 
Vista." * It was the twenty-fourth of June. Cabot 
set up a large cross, planted the banner of England 
with that of Venice, and took possession of the coun- 
try in the name of King Henry VII. After coasting 
along the shores for three hundred leagues, and seeing 
no inhabitants, he returned to England, arriving at 
Bristol in August. 

* Mr. Richard Biddle, in his " Memoir of Sebastian Cabot," contends 
that " Prima Vista" was Labrador, but on the " Mappe-Monde " of 
Cabot, made in 1544, the name is given to the end of Cape Breton Is- 
land. See proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, for April, 
1867, remarks of Charles Deane, LL. D. 



8(1 THE CABOTS AND OTHER DISCOVERERS. 

Henry received Cabot with honor, furnished him 
money, and encouraged him to continue his expeditions. 
A license was given him for this purpose by the king, 
but he does not appear to have made any voyages by 
virtue of it. The origin and end of John Cabot the dis- 
coverer of the American continent, are alike involved 
in obscurity. It is not certainly known of what coun- 
try he was a native. He was not an Englishman, and 
though he had long lived in Venice, the fruitful 
foster-mother of adventurous discoverers, he was not 
a native of that city. Not an original like Columbus, 
he was a wise and skilful navigator, and though he 
probably took his suggestion from Columbus, he 
deserves credit for the sagacity which led him to 
accept the conclusions of that navigator, and to risk 
life and fortune in the effort to find the Indies by 
sailing westward. 

Sebastian Cabot, the second son of John, born 
probably about 1475, perhaps in Venice, was bred to 
the profession of his father, and early took up with 
enthusiasm the work which he, to us, so mysteriously 
had laid down. It is supposed, and there is no good 
reason for doubting the supposition, that he had 
accompanied his father on the voyage which resulted 
in the discovery of our continent ; and though little 
over twenty-one, he started again on the search for a 
northwest passage to India, in 1498, at nearly the 
same time that Columbus embarked on the third 
voyage, from which he came home in irons. Cabot 
encountered icebergs as he steered to the northwest, 
and, turning to the southward, sailed along the Ameri- 
can coast, where he saw the copper-tinted aborigines 
and made some observations on their customs. He 



THE NORTHEASTERN ROUTE. 31 

returned to England, considering his voyage to have 
been a failure, which, indeed, it was, so far as the dis- 
covery of a northwest passage is concerned, but in 
no other sense. He was unfortunate in having his 
achievements brought to notice at the time when 
Europe was ringing with reports of the discovery by 
Vasco de Gama, of the route to India by the Cape of 
Good -Hope. 

The date of the death of Sebastian, like that of his 
birth, is unknown. He probably drew his latest breath 
near the time that Elizabeth ascended the throne ; 
when he was about eighty-five years of age. He was 
honored as a great seaman during all of his long life. 
In 1 5 1 8 he was invited, by Ferdinand of Spain, to 
come to that country, where he was made " Pilot 
Major" of the realm, and one of the Council for the 
"New Indies." In 1526 he commanded an expedi- 
tion which was sent out to find a passage to India by 
a southwestern route, and he then entered the La 
Plata and discovered Paraguay. In 1547, the first 
year of the reign of Edward VI., he was recalled to 
England, and pensioned, for the good work that he 
had done and was yet to do. In 1553 he directed an 
unsuccessful expedition to find a passage to India 
by a northeastern route* On the accession of 
Queen Mary he was invited by Charles V., to go 
again to Spain, but he refused to leave England. In 
1556, he appears for the last time in authentic records 

*This attempt has been often repeated since the day of the Cabots, 
and it was left for a daring explorer of our own day to succeed in it. 
Baron Adolf Eric Nordenskiold, sailed from Gothenburg in July, 1878, 
and arrived at Yokohama in September, 1879. He considers the 
voyage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in the Siberian Sea, practica- 
ble, but useless to commerce. 



32 



THE CABOT fi ANT) OTHER DISC0VEBEB8. 



as president of a new company formed for discovery. 
Octogenarian that he was, he so much rejoiced at the 
prospects of a new expedition, that he actually joined 
in a dance on the occasion of the banquet which was 
given as the vessel was about to start. 

The long and eventful life of Sebastian Cabot com- 
prised almost the whole century of discovery that 
followed the first expedition of Columbus. He saw 

Amerigo Vespucci make his 
four voyages, * and have his 
name given to the new con- 
tinent, in 1507. Vespucci 
was an astronomer of Ven- 
ice, who accompanied the 
expeditions with which his 
name is associated in infe- 
rior capacities. In later 
years he was a warm friend 
of Columbus, and he was always an honest man, an 
enthusiastic discoverer, a good manager and a superior 
astronomer. His name was given to the country by a 
German geographer, Martin Waldseemuller, who pub- 
lished an account of the four voyages of Vespucci at 
St. Die, Lorraine, in 1507. 

In 1 50 1 Caspar Cortereal was sent to the Western 
Hemisphere by the King of Portugal. He made two 
expeditions, returned from the first with a cargo of 
the natives, whom he sold as slaves, and was never 
heard of after he left Portugal the second time. Some 
three years later the French made voyages to New- 




*The voyages of Vespucci are clouded in obscurity, and it is by 
many doubted if he made four. See Irving's " Columbus," vol. iii., 
P- 344- 



U5 


rt 


S I £ 


l>» 






% * C> 




I 


M 






3 3 3 


H^ 


t* SB ^ 




£$« 


c 




H 




Ul 


g 


Q 




SPANISH I)Isc()]'ki:eus. 35 

foundland, and left there names which remain still as 
witnesses of their adventurous spirit. 

In 15 12 Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish navigator 
who had accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, 
having heard the Indian tradition of the Fountain of 
Youth, went in search of it, and discovered Florida 
on Palm Sunday (Pasqua Florida, feast of flowers) of 
that year. He visited it again four years later, in 
search of gold, but was driven away. 

In 15 13 Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a companion of 
Columbus, explored the Isthmus of Darien, and hear- 
ing that there was beyond the mountains a mighty 
sea navigated by people with great vessels, the 
streams entering it abounding in gold, that precious 
metal being as plenty as iron in Europe, he gave him- 
self up to the discovery of the Pacific Ocean. Reach- 
ing the mountain from the summit of which he was 
told that the marvellous sea was to be descried, this 
daring, and sometimes cruel adventurer, made the 
ascent alone, and, gazing upon a new world with a 
palpitating heart, sank upon his knees in thankfulness 
to God who had given him the privilege of being the 
first European to see the sight. He promised his 
followers that they should be the richest men on 
earth, and they on their part, in the spirit of mediae- 
val knight-errant, vowed to follow him to the death, 
whereupon they all fell upon their knees and united 
in singing the Te Deum Laudamus with pious enthu- 
siasm and great joy. 

In 1 5 19 Hernando Cortes, the foremost among the 
adventurers who had come to the New World, a man 
of decided genius, but of unrelenting cruelty, was sent 
from Cuba by Diego Velasquez, the Spanish governor 



36 THE CABOTS AND OTHER DISCOVERERS. 

of that island, to conquer Mexico. His adventures 
on this remarkable expedition possess all the interest 
of romance, and have been often recounted. Cortes 
arrived at the capital of Mexico on the eighth of 
November, 15 19, and he and his men were received 
as divinities. On a slight pretext, he made a prisoner 
of Montezuma, the ruler, loaded him with irons, 
burned many of his subjects alive, and, after much 
fierce fighting and many vicissitudes, succeeded in 
gaining possession of the country, which for three 
centuries was a bright gem in the crown of Castile. 

The idea of getting to the Indies by sailing west- 
ward was revived by Fernando Magalhaens, a naviga- 
tor and discoverer inferior to Columbus only. His 
scheme was favorably received by the wise cardinal 
Ximenes, and afterwards approved by Charles V., of 
Spain, who enabled him to fit out a squadron, which 
left Spain in the autumn of 15 19. First making land 
on the shores of Brazil, he steered southward and 
entered the river La Plata, but soon found that it was 
not a passage through the continent.* Sailing still 
to the southward, Magalhaens passed through the 
strait now called Magellan (a corruption of his name), 
which he called the " Strait of the eleven thousand 
Virgins," and on the twenty-eighth of November, 
1520, entered the Pacific Ocean. For many months 
he sailed from point to point in this great expanse, 
giving it the name "Pacific" on account of the 
smoothness of its waters and the gentleness of its 
breezes, and was finally killed in an unnecessary 

* For a century longer the explorers were constant in their efforts 
to pierce the continent, and we find them frequently sailing up rivers 
and bays with this object in view. 



VERRAZANO OF FLORENCE. 39 

quarrel when endeavoring to force baptism upon the 
natives of one of the islands.* His voyage had 
occupied five hundred and thirty-three days, while 
that of Columbus was less than one half that time, 
and he had actually circumnavigated the globe, for he 
had reached, by sailing westward, a point which he 
had in a former voyage passed in sailing to the 
eastward. 

The next figure which appears on the scene is that 
of Giovanni da Verrazano, a Florentine corsair, 
employed by the French government. He is said to 
have become an expert navigator by sailing to the 
Indies, and to have captured one of the treasure-ships 
of Cortes, bearing a portion of the personal spoils 
taken from Montezuma, valued at a million and a half 
dollars. According to the somewhat confused and 
questionable statement of Verrazano, he sailed from 
the Madeira Islands January 17, 1524, and after a 
tempestuous voyage of fifty days, discovered land near 
Cape Fear, whence he coasted to the northward (dis- 
covering New York harbor and Narragansett Bay), 
and returned to France after an absence of six 
months, where he made a report to King Francis I., 
who thus derived a claim to much territory. The 
history of this man is of doubtful character, and 
much discussion has been brought out by letters and 
maps alleged to relate to them.f 

* The discoverers who followed Columbus were as desirous as he 
to extend the Christian religion, and, in their zeal, they often deter 
mined to convert the heathen or to kill them in the attempt. 

t See "Verrazano the Navigator," by J. C. Brevoort (1874), arti- 
cles by the same in the " Magazine of American History," 18S2, p. 481 ; 
" The Voyage of Verrazano," by H. C. Murphy (1875) ; and the collec- 
tion of the New York Historical Society for 1841. 



40 



THE CABOTS AND OTHER DmGQVBRERS. 



One of those who looked from the mountain-top 
with Balboa, over the Pacific, when he saw it for the 
first time, was a young Spaniard named Francisco 
Pizarro, a native of Truxillo, one of the most courage- 
ous, enterprising and hardy of the group. He heard 
of a rich country to the south, called Peru, and in 




OLD DRAWING OF A SHIP OF THE EAKLY DISCO VEF.EKS. 



November, 1524, set out with a small ship, and eighty 
men, to conquer it. It was a remarkable enterprise, 
and it was carried out with unflinching perseverance in 
the face of difficulties almost insurmountable. After 
three years, Pizarro found himself again in Panama, 
with unbroken spirits, and he gave glowing accounts 



FRANCISCO PIZARRO. 41 

of the richness of Peru. With help from Cortes he was 
able to equip a force and to sail from Spain again, to 
renew the attempt under authority of Charles V. In 
1534, he landed in Spain on his return, with a large 
sum of gold which he had wrenched from the native 
king, whom he had put to death after accepting the 
gold as ransom for his life. He afterwards returned 
to Peru with almost absolute power, and ruled the 
land until he was killed by disaffected conspirators, 
June 26th, 1 541. His vision of the wealth of the 
country had been satisfied, but his natural passions 
were too powerful for him to control, and he did not 
keep in peace that which he had obtained by unscrup- 
ulousness and treachery. 

Between 1527 and 1542, two Spanish adventur- 
ers, Cabeza de Vaca and Francisco Vasquez Coro- 
nado, had traversed the interior of the continent 
separately, discovering New Mexico, Colorado, and 
Arizona, and visiting the Pueblo of Zufii. Cabeza 
arrived at the Pacific Ocean at Sonora, and returned 
to Spain in 1537, and it was his stories that stirred 
Ue Soto to undertake his voyage the next year. 

Sebastian Cabot was living during all these stirring 
times, and it was still many years before his death 
that Jacques Cartier was sent out from France — in 
1534 — to make explorations west of Newfoundland. 
He discovered the St. Lawrence River, and laid the 
foundation of the subsequent power of France in the 
Canadas. The advantage thus gained was followed 
up for a few years, but the last half of the sixteenth 
century was barren of results for France, and Samuel 
Champlain, in 1603, became the real father of French 
settlements in that region. 



42 THE CABOTS AND OTHER DISCOVEBEBS. 

This succession of enthusiastic adventurers and 
their marvellous discoveries must have been familiar 
to Sebastian Cabot, and it is difficult to put ourselves 
in the position of a man, who, year after year, listened 
to the story of the progress of discovery. The 
account reads, at our distance of time, like the records 
of the Knights of the Round Table, and we involun- 
tarily elevate the actors to the lofty position occupied 
in romance by the searchers for the Sangrail. There 
are many features common to both. 

So they unrolled the volume of the book, 

And filled the fields of the Evangelist 

With antique thoughts that breathed of Paradise ! 

Uprose they for the quest! The bounding men, 

( )f the siege perilous and the magic ring ! 

' Comrades in arms ! Mates of the Table Round ! 

Fair sirs, my fellows in the bannered ring — 

Ours is a lofty tryst ! This day we meet 

Not under shield, with scarf and knightly gage, 

To quench our thirst of love in ladies' eyes : 

Nay, but a holier theme, a mightier quest — 

Ho 1 for the Sangrail, vanished vase of Godl ' 




THE PUEBl-O OF ZUNI. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE EARLY AMERICANS. 




l 0R the discoverers of 
America the question, 
To what race the people 
whom they found on the 
*\ continent belonged, 

was answered in ad- 
vance. India was 
the land they sought, 
India was the land 
they supposed they 
had found, and the 
inhabitants were for 
them Indians, and in 
spite of its confessed 
impropriety, the name has been retained. 

Few subjects are involved in more obscurity than 
the question, What is the origin of the native races 
of America? Did they come from Asia, or did 
the Asiatics go from the American continent ? Dr. 
Latham had said that he knew no reasons valid to 
prove that the New World was not older than the Old, 
long before Agassiz had made his positive statement 
that the hypothesis was truth,* and it is now pretty 
generally accepted that at least a part of the Americans 

* See the Atlantic Monthly, March 1863, p. 313. 

43 



THE GOVERNOR OF ZUNI. 



44 



THE EARLY AMERICANS. 



belong to the great Mongolian raee. The most 
advanced of our ethnologists infer that there have been 
migrations from Asia at various times, both by north- 
ern and southern routes. Mr. Putnam of the anthro- 
pological museum of Harvard University has advanced 




MODERN INDIANS. 



the theory that the invaders from trans-Pacific lands 
were met by a primitive people in America. Among 
the wild vagaries of enthusiasts we find the belief that 
the Indians were descended from "the Ten Tribes," 
headed by Prester John, the wonderful priest (presby- 
ter) whose people were supposed to have inhabited the 
interior of Asia. 

When first known to Europeans, the inhabitants 
were scattered over the continent from the extreme 
Arctic regions to Terra Del Fuego, and though the 



THE VARIOUS TRIBES. 



47 



different tribes bore great resemblance to each other 
and seemed to belong to one race, they differed much 
in degree of civilization, in appearance and in habits. 
Beginning at the north, we find the Innuits (Eskimos), 
and, bordering on them, the great Tinneh family, con- 
taining many distinct tribes, all of them in a state of 
savagery. To the south and extending across the 
central portion of the continent, were the Iroquois, 
the Mohegans, Pequots, Lenni-lenapes, Miamis, Shaw- 
nees, Kickapoos, Illinois, Pottawattomies, Sacs and 




MANUFACTURES OF CALIFORNIA INDIANS. 

Foxes, Chippewas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onandagas, 
Cayugas, Senecas, Eries, Tuscaroras, Hurons, Winne- 
bagos, and many others. Still further south were the 
Natches, Catawbas, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choc- 
taws, Creeks, Seminoles and numerous other tribes, 
while to the west were the Shoshones, Utes, Sioux and 
other well known tribes. 



48 THE EARLY AMERICANS. 

These all showed some improvement over the 
Innuits and other northern peoples, and were to a 
greater or less extent, cultivators of the ground ; but 
many tribes lived principally by fishing and the chase. 
Many others cultivated Indian corn, and agriculture 
was general among those to the south. Many of the 
tribes practised cannibalism to a certain extent and 
under certain circumstances.* 

As we go southward, we find increasing evidences 
of progress towards civilization. While the majority 
of these people lived in wigwams and other habitations 
of slight structure, there were those who erected large 
houses of logs and bark, or covered a framework of 
logs and branches with clay. It is not, however, until 
we reach the Pueblo (Village) Indians of New Mexico 
and Arizona, that we find a people who have for ages 
made substantial and lasting houses of stone and 
adobe (sun-dried blocks of clay) and who are far 
advanced towards civilization. These people cultivate 
the soil, and for a great part, depend upon their crops 
for their living. Long before they were discovered by 
the Spaniards (about the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
tury) they were advanced in the arts of weaving and 
pottery. 

In many of the canons of Colorado, Arizona, and 
Utah, there are houses built in natural and artificial 
excavations in the perpendicular sides of the lofty 
walls. These houses are made of stones skilfully laid, 

*In his introduction to The Jesuits in North America, Mr. Francis 
Parkman makes interesting remarks on the subject of cannibalism as 
connected with religious rites among the Hurons (p. xxxix) and inti- 
mates that the wandering Algonquins were sometimes pressed into the 
practice by the desperation of extreme famine. 



THE CLIFF DWELLINGS. 



49 



400 YARDS TO THE 1i\\)|j 



BED OF THE CHACO 



1„« 

C§.HEAP^ %£ , 



*% 



OUTER WALLS 
, MUCH BROKEN DOWN 



INSIDE OF THIS COURT FULL OF 
DEPRESSIONS, AS IF A NUMBER OF 
UNDER-GROUND ROOMS ONCE EXISTED. 




I'—l; 



doi 

□D 




SECTION THaOUGH A B 



^ 



GROUND-PLAN OF A PUEBLO IN CHACO CANON, NORTHERN 
NEW MEXICO. 

and on many walls the remains of a coating of white 
plaster-like clay is still to be seen. The size of these 
houses varies, some being two stories in height and of 



50 THE EARLY AMERICANS. 

considerable extent, others rising to but one story, and 
containing only a few rooms. They are well adapted 
to resist attack, and must have been admirable resorts 
in time of danger. 

It is very difficult to generalize upon the subject of 
the customs and characteristic traits of the Indians of 
North America. They were first seen by men utterly 
unable to understand their actions, and who could 
interpret them only by reading in them meanings sug- 
gested by European customs. Many statements that 
have gained currency were made originally by men 
who had actually never seen an Indian. In an annual 
address as President of the Anthropological Society 
of Washington, Mr. J. VV. Powell corrects some of 
these errors, made by Herbert Spencer and other 
writers of repute, and says that the instances given 
"illustrate the worthlessness of a vast body of anthro- 
pological material to which even the best writers 
resort." 

The same thing had been done by Colonel Garrick 
Mallery, at the meeting of the Philosophical Society of 
Washington, in December, 1877. Colonel Mallery 
showed that the Indians were neither "red" nor 
" copper-colored," but had been so called from the 
fact that those first seen were accustomed to color 
their bodies. Their prevailing color is really brown. 
He also controverted the notion that the Indians 
believed in and worshipped one God, the Great Spirit, 
as, trusting the dictum of the Jesuit missionaries, all 
subsequent writers have stated. They can scarcely be 
said to have any religion, as we use the word, but 
seem to have in their Pantheon many gods and more 
devils, and to be governed rather by superstition than 




CLIFF DWELLINGS IN SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA. |t 



THE INDIA* CHARACTER. 53 

by a monotheistic faith. But in this, as in other 
things, there is great variation among tribes in differ- 
ent parts of the country.* 

In the same manner the Indians have been described 
as cunning, ever on the alert, stoical .under pain, cruel 
to those they captured, with the animal propensities 
predominating over the intellectual, haughty and taci- 
turn, but eloquent and full of fire when aroused. 
While all v of these traits may be predicated of certain 
Indians, it is not true that they are possessed by all. 
History proves that the same traits may be found in 
the most intelligent peoples of antiquity also ; and on 
the other hand, many of the kindly virtues have been 
nowhere more beautifully exhibited than by some 
swarthy son of the American forest. Cruelty to the 
captured and hatred of enemies is by no means the 
universal rule among the Indians. In some instances 
they have shown a noble appreciation of the valor of 
an enemy, and a willingness that a captive should 
have a new opportunity to enjoy life with his own 
people. 

* Mr. Parkman, in his exceedingly interesting introduction to The 
Jesuits in North America, already says : " To sum up the results of this 
examination, mentioned [of the native tribes], the primitive Indian was 
as savage in his religion as in his life. He was divided between fetich 
worship and that next degree of religious development which consists 
in the worship of deities embodied in the human form. His conception 
of their attributes was such as might have been expected. His gods 
were no whit better than himself. Even when he borrows from Chris- 
tianity the idea of a Supreme and Universal Spirit, his tendency is to 
reduce him to a local habitation and a bodily shape ; and this tendency 
disappears only in tribes that have been long in contact with civilized 
white men. The primitive Indian, yielding his untutored homage to 
one All-pervading and Omnipotent Spirit, is a dream of poets, rhetori- 
cians and sentimentalists," 



54 



THE EARLY AMERICANS. 



The dress of the Indians varied with the climate, 
many tribes covering but small portions of their 
bodies, others being entirely naked, while the greater 
portion were well clothed in blankets and garments of 




INDIAN PAPPOOSE. 



various kinds made of skins or woven fabrics. As a 
rule, they were given to painting their bodies or deck- 
ing themselves with beads, shells, or feathers. Some 
tribes carried the art of weaving to great perfection, 
using various vegetable fibres with great skill. 



MOUNDS AND EARTH WORKS. 55 

The men engaged in war, hunted and fished ; and 
the women cooked, made pottery, wove, cultivated the 
fields, gathered seeds and acorns for food, the men 
often assisting them in these labors, however, as they 
had opportunity when not engaged in other occupa- 
tions. 

It has been said that disease and war had begun to 
carry off some tribes before Columbus arrived in 
America, and this is probably true ; and since that 
time others have very much diminished in numbers, 
and even, in a few instances, been nearly exterminated ; 
still warfare has been in great part prevented in many 
tribes since they came in contact with the whites, 
and under a peaceful life many have increased during 
the last century, so that the poet's words, while often 
applicable, do not apply to all of them when he says, 
speaking in the person of an Indian : 

Then a darker, drearier vision 
Passed before me, vague and cloud-like . 
I beheld our nation scattered, 
All forgetful of my councils, 
Weakened, warring with each other ; 
Saw the remnants of our people 
Sweeping westward, wild and woeful, 
Like the cloud-rack of a tempest, 
Like the withered leaves of autumn. 

The mounds and extensive earthworks which are 
found in many parts of the country, have generally 
been supposed to be remains of a people who were 
not only superior to the Indians in every way, but 
who long ago occupied the land and were extermin- 
ated by the latter race. Recent investigations of the 
more careful archaeologists, and particularly the method 



56 THE EARLY AMEMCAN8. 

of the large mound collection in the Museum of Arch- 
aeology at Cambridge, Mass., show that while many 
of the mounds and earthworks, particularly of the 
Ohio valley, are unqestionably of great antiquity, 
others, as, for instance, many in Florida, are of recent 
times. It has also been shown that some of the 
present Indian tribes made fortifications and erected 
burial mounds. Therefore, it is very likely that the 
mounds were made by distant nations at various 
times, and that there have been successive peoples, 
or tribes, in almost every valley in our country ; and, 
as Mr. Putnam has said : "We must always use the 
term 'mound-builders' with a qualification and the 
story that each mound and earthwork tells must be 
read with caution. Simply because one is found to be 
very ancient, there is no reason, from that fact, to 
prove that another of a similar character may not be 
comparatively recent." 

That the mounds and earthworks were built on 
the sites of permanent towns, or for the purpose of 
fortifications, cannot be questioned, and there is no 
doubt but that the tribes who erected them were in 
every case, no matter of what time, truly village 
peoples, and probably corresponded in culture to the 
village Indians met by the early explorers throughout 
the southern portions of the country, " and, like them, 
were agriculturists, worked in stone, bone, shell and 
copper, made finely woven fabrics, and were expert 
potters." 

The largest mound in the United States is in the 
Mississippi valley opposite St. Louis.* It covers 

* Models of this Mound, — called the " Cahokia Mound," — are in 
the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, at Cambridge, Mass. 




GKAND CANON, ARIZONA, LOOKING- EAST. 57 



THE GREAT SERPENT. 59 

more than twelve acres and rises to the height of 
about one hundred feet. It is in the midst of a group 
of some sixty, which vary in height from thirty to 
sixty feet, besides many that are smaller. It has not 
been explored, but is considered by Mr. Putnam to 
have been used primarily as a site for a town. 

In the Cumberland valley, near Nashville, Tenn., 
and Lebanon, several mounds have been very care- 
fully explored by Professor Putnam, and the remark- 
able relics there found are described and illustrated in 
his Report as curator, published in 1878. 

In Adams County, Ohio, there is an earthwork 
called the " Great Serpent," from a resemblance which 
has been traced to the form of a serpent about to 
swallow an immense egg, one hundred and sixty feet 
long by eighty feet wide. This so-called serpent 
extends more than seven hundred feet along the 
summit of a hill, the embankment which forms its 
outline being five or six feet high and twenty or 
more feet wide at its base. Observers differ in their 
reports of the appearance of this earthwork, some 
being able to see the outlines of the serpent with dis- 
tinctness, while others observe but faint traces of it. 

In some parts of Wisconsin, there are many large 
earthworks several feet in height, made in the form of 
men, birds, buffaloes and other animals. The purpose 
for which these singular mounds were made, with 
so great labor, is not understood, and there is nothing- 
known of the particular people who made them. 

In Georgia similar effigy mounds representing 
birds have been described by Colonel Jones ; but 
these, while of large size, are made of stones. In 
some places embankments have been erected of great 



60 THE EARLY AMERICANS. 

size, and extending for many miles. One of the most 
celebrated of these large earthworks is in Ohio, and is 
known as Fort Ancient. Other hills have been forti- 
fied by high embankments of earth, or by walls of 
stone. A singular ancient stone fort was, a century 
ago, to be seen near Lake Winnepesaukee in New 
Hampshire ; other similar forts are known to exist in 
Indiana and Ohio, and all tell the story of ancient 
wars, long before the days of European colonization. 

Strange record of a people passed away ! 

Once numerous as the leaves the forests shed, 
As mindful of man's frailty and decay, 

Upon their mounds, and grave hills of their dead. 
Here lived, and planned, and toiled, another race, 

A pre-historic race, forgotten long, 
Who in the speech of men have left no trace, 

Unknown alike to story and to song. 
Yet were they to ourselves, as men, allied, 

In God's own image made, though of the earth ; 
And, though the help of learning's stores denied, 

Destined with us to an immortal birth ; 
With reverence may we ope their graves, and tread 
With thoughtful minds the cities of the dead. 

— Jones Very.* 

The archaeology and ethnology of America are not 
yet sufficiently well known to permit much safe gen- 
eralization regarding the pre-historic races of the 
continent, though it has been abundantly proved that 
there were inhabitants, and, in many parts, dense 
populations, centuries before the continent became 
known to Europeans. 

*This heretofore unpublished sonnet, entitled by the author "The 
Mound Builders," was written by the late Mr. Very in 1873, after read- 
ing " The Pre-historic Races of the United States of America," by the 
late J. W. Foster, LL. D. 



MEXICAN REMAINS. 63 

In Mexico the remains of an ancient civilization 
show that Mexicans had made considerable progress 
in culture, and when Cortes appeared in the country 
accurate information of his men, equipments and pur- 
poses were promptly communicated to Montezuma by 
a system of picture-writing. The progress in archi- 
tecture is % well authenticated by the testimony of the 
earliest adventurers, and the ruins in Southern Mexico 
and Yucatan sufficiently attest the same. 

There is an extensive group of ruins at Uxmal 
which has attracted much attention. The buildings 
are very large, and many are ornamented with elab- 
orate sculptures. If some of these buildings of stone 
were used as communal houses, as Mr. Morgan 
thinks, they would accommodate some six hundred 
to a thousand persons, living in the fashion practised 
by the Pueblos of New Mexico. At Zayi, like Uxmal 
in Yucatan, there is a ruin that was capable of accom- 
modating more than two thousand persons. The 
Temple of the Sun in the city of Mexico is said to 
have been so large that five thousand priests were 
accommodated in it, besides which there was room 
for eight or ten thousand persons to dance in it on 
solemn festivals ; but this must be taken with con- 
siderable allowance. 

The most remarkable ruins of this sort are those 
found at Palenque in the Mexican State of Chiapas. 
This place appears to have been forgotten as long 
ago as the time that Cortes invaded the country, for 
he passed near it without mentioning its existence. 
It was discovered in 1750, but not explored until 
1784, since which date the ruins have been several 
times visited and described, though they are yet to 



64 THE EARLY AMERICANS. 

be thoroughly investigated. They exhibit the great- 
est skill in architecture, carving in stone and design- 
ing displayed in the remains of the early Americans 
in either North or South America. The buildings 
are of massive stone work, and comprise extensive 
corridors, numerous courts, subterranean vaults, huge 
stone tablets covered with sculptures and hieroglyph- 
ics and ornamented with bas-reliefs. The intricacy 
and delicacy of the carved designs, the extent of the 
remains and the accuracy with which the whole is 
constructed, are astonishing when examined in draw- 
ings and photographs, and testify to an advance in 
the arts which is simply wonderful. 

Lo, o'er the dense, black mass of giant trees, 
The moon upsprings and sighs the midnight breeze: 
Now looks Palenque — ruin on ruin piled — 
August, yet spectral, beautiful, yet wild ! 

Such ruins give to New Mexico and Central America 
an interest not less than that of Egypt. 

In South America we come to the remains of 
another people to whom the term Incas has generally 
been applied. The Spaniards exhausted their lan- 
guage in attempting to describe the wondrous archi- 
tecture of the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco. But 
besides this, Peru contains remains of extensive aque- 
ducts, bridges and roads, and the most remarkable 
remains of a former civilization to be found on the 
American continent are on Lake Titicaca, which lies 
about thirteen thousand feet above the sea, between 
Peru and Bolivia. On the islands in the lake are 
many ancient ruins of massive buildings of stone, and 
at the southern portion of the lake are the famous 



SOUTH AMEBIC Ay REMAINS. 



fin 



ruins of Tiahuanaco, which are so old that the Peru- 
vians of the time of the Conquest knew nothing of their 




INDIAN WEAPONS. 



origin. The buildings were constructed with great 
skill, and show evidence of considerable artistic taste. 
The sculptures are different from any others that 



66 



THE EARLY AMERICANS. 



have been found on the continent. Further south 
the evidences of culture are gradually lost, and in 
Brazil and Patagonia there are tribes resembling the 
North American Indians, while in Terra del Fuego 
the people are probably the most degraded of any on 
the Continent of America. 

They left no history, but lived and died 

Like the wild animals round them which they slew ; 

The woods and streams their ravenous wants supplied, 

To hunger and to thirst were all they knew. 

The skins of beasts about their loins they drew, 

And made themselves rude weapons out of stone, 

Sharp arrow-heads and lances. 




CHAPTER IV. 



DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 




ON THE KOUTE OF I'IZARKO. 



THE next chapter in the 
progress of adventure 
in the New World, leads us 
into the same realm of ro- 
mance that the visions of 
Columbus had opened. The 
natives of Porto Rico had a 
tradition that there lay far 
out in the ocean an island 
named Bimini, on which there was a fountain possess- 
ing the power of restoring youth to the aged. 

The leafy Bimini, 

A land of grottos and bowers 
Is there ; and a wonderful fountain 

Upsprings from its gardens of flowers. 
That fountain gives life to the dying, 

And youth to the aged restores ; 
They flourish in beauty eternal, 

Who set but their foot on its shores ! 



A knowledge of this tradition came to Fernando 
De Soto, one of the companions of Pizarro, at about 
the time that another adventurer of the company, Fran- 
cisco Orellana, became infatuated with the belief that 
there was a land of fabulous wealth in the heart of 

67 



68 DE SOTO OX THE MISSISSIPPI. 

South America called El Dorado (the Golden Land). 
In 1540, Orellana set out to find the Golden Land. 
He travelled through the valley of the Amazon, dis- 
covering that river, which for a time bore his name, 
and then went to Spain to get permission to colonize 
the country. On his return he was attacked by a 
fever, and died in 1549, on the banks of the river that 
he had discovered, a martyr to the delusive search. 

In roaring cataracts down Andes' channelled steeps 
Mark how enormous Orellana sweeps. 
Monarch of mighty floods, supremely strong, 
Foaming from cliff to cliff, he whirls along, 
Swol'n with an hundred hills' collected snows: 
Thence over nameless regions widely flows, 
Round fragrant isles and citron groves, 
Where still the naked Indian roves, 
And safely builds his leafy bower. 

De Soto was one of the more worthy of the followers 
of Pizarro. He had been educated in the University 
of Saragossa, and was an accomplished knight, as well 
as a scholar of no mean pretentions. He began his 
career as explorer as early as 15 19, before he was 
twenty years old (for he was born in the year 1500, 
at Xeres, in Estremadura), and explored Darien, and 
Nicaragua, before 1528, when he was sent to Guata- 
mala and Yucatan to find a strait which was supposed 
to connect the two oceans. He travelled seven hun- 
dred miles along the coast in this vain search. In 
1532 it was that Pizarro invited him to join the party 
that went to conquer Peru. He performed many val- 
orous deeds, and engaged in the scandalous plot to 
capture Atahuallpa, the Inca (king) of the country 
who had the same year usurped the throne of his 



PIZARRO' S TREACHERY 



69 



brother Huascar, the lawful Inca. Pizarro agreed to 
accept as ransom for the Inca, a sufficient amount of 
gold to fill the room in which the conference with him 
was held, which was seventeen feet wide and twenty- 
two feet long. After the gold had been delivered, 
Pizarro treacherously refused to set Atahuallpa free, 




THE INCA III ASCAIt. 



and, on a pretext, condemned him to be burned alive. 
De Soto having obtained his share of the ransom, was 
very wealthy. He protested with great vigor against 
the bad faith of his leader, but without success. The 
sentence pronounced against the Inca was, however, 
commuted, and he was executed by strangling. 

After the conquest of Peru had been completed, 



70 DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

De Soto hastened to Spain with his fortune, and 
was received by the great emperor Charles V., with 
the honors accorded to a conqueror. No request that 
he could proffer was considered too extravagant, and 
when he asked it, permission was freely given him to 
go to conquer that great region then called " Florida," 
extending from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and 
to the north and northwest to an unlimited extent, 
of which Cabeza de Vaca had told the wonders. 
Over all this territory De Soto was given absolute 
authority. The excitement in Spain produced by 
the publication of the plans of De Soto can be likened 
to nothing but the great upheaval that followed the 
preaching of the first Crusade by Peter the Hermit. 
As at that time men hastened to join the expe- 
dition against the infidels with motives combining 
avarice and superstitious reverence for the holy places, 
so now the flower of Spanish chivalry, wild with 
expectation as they dreamt of the El Dorado, of the 
Fountain of Youth, and of the wealth that they sup- 
posed was within their easy grasp, recklessly parted 
with houses and lands to enter upon the new expe- 
dition. 

With six hundred picked men, and twenty officers, 
besides twenty-four ecclesiastics, De Soto sailed from 
San Lucaz, Spain, (the same port from which Colum- 
bus had set out on his third voyage, and Magalhaens 
on the one during which he circumnavigated the 
world,) in the spring of 1538. He stopped at Cuba, 
leaving the ladies of the expedition at Havana until 
the conquest should be effected, and arrived at Tampa 
Bay, after sailing around Cape Sable, and through the 
Gulf of Mexico, in May, 1539. The entire summer 



A WINTER IN FLORIDA. 71 

was employed in wandering along the western shore 
of Florida, and by October, the gay explorers found 
themselves in the vicinity of the site on which Talla- 
hassee was afterwards built, east of the Appalachicola 




GUATEMALIAN IDOL. 

River. There they spent the winter. The company 
were all dispirited, and would have turned back, had 
De Soto been less determined. He had found no 



72 DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

gold, and there was little real promise of any, but 
he said that he was determined to see the poverty 
of the country with his own eyes. His wish in this 
respect was amply realized before his death. 

The Indians, ever desirous to put as great distance 
as possible between themselves and the invaders, con- 
stantly held out delusive hopes of gold in the dis- 
tance, and now pointed to the northeast as the wealthy 
region. In that direction the wanderers pursued 
their perilous way, suffering much in the wildernesses 
from a lack of proper supplies. After having gone 
far to the north, De Soto arrived by the middle of 
October at an Indian village on the Alabama, called 
Mavilla, or Mobile, distant some forty miles from the 
present site of Selma, and about one hundred miles 
north of Pensacola. Here a battle occurred, in which it 
is said that twenty-five hundred natives lost their 
lives. It is supposed to have been the most san- 
guinary conflict in all the struggles between the 
Europeans and the original owners of the soil. 
The invaders lost their baggage, which was in the 
town, and was burned. 

Despite his disasters, De Soto refused to send infor- 
mation of his condition to Cuba, though vessels had 
arrived on the coast from the Island. His firm spirit 
was not broken, and in the spring of 1541, after hav- 
ing wintered in the territory of the Chickasaws, to the 
north, he prepared anew for his journey. The Chick- 
asaws refused a demand for men to carry his baggage, 
and burned their village and with it also the Span- 
ish camp, many of the invaders perishing in the 
flames and in the ensuing skirmish. De Soto and his 
followers were now reduced almost to nakedness, but 



.1 ROM Ay TIC BURIAL. 73 

they pushed on to the northwest, losing a number of 
men by fever soon after their start. A march of a 
week brought them to the Mississippi, between Mem- 
phis and Helena. A delay of a month was made 
necessary because the Indian boats were insufficient 
for the transport of the army, but the river was finally 
crossed, and De Soto continued on to the northwest, 
touching the present Indian Territory. Thence, going 
southerly, he passed the hot springs of Arkansas, 
which his followers at first thought were identical 
with the Fountain of Youth. The winter was passed 
on the Washita River, and in the spring of 1542, the 
journey to the Atlantic was begun. The leader never 
reached that goal. He was attacked by a fever on 
the banks of the great river that he had explored, 
and died May 21, 1542, not far from the site on which 
the city of Natchez now stands. He was at first 
buried on the shore of the river, but because his fol- 
lowers did not want the Indians to find his body, and 
thus know that he had died, he was, with poetic 
propriety, solemnly deposited in the river itself. 

The remnant of the army, which, when it entered 
upon its fruitless march, was larger and better equipped 
than those that had been sent against Mexico and 
Peru, now determined to seek Mexico through the 
forests ; but the effort was not successful, and the 
almost worn-out wanderers again found themselves 
on the banks of the Father of Waters, not far from 
the junction of the Red River. There they built 
boats, though the task was one of the most difficult, 
sailed down the stream, and, after coasting to the 
southwest, readied Panuco, in Vera Cruz, in Septem- 
ber, 1543. The Mississippi River had been discov- 



74 DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

ered, but no glory had accrued to Spain. The Fountain 
of Youth was yet to be found, and the famed El Dorado 
had not been even heard of. Misery, distress, cruelty, 
death had marked the march of the Spaniards through 
the country which had been supposed to be a second 
Peru for grandeur, and a Mexico for wealth. More 
bloodshedding and strife were yet to follow the efforts 
of the Spaniards to obtain a secure foothold in the 
New World. Though it was theirs, in some sort, by 
right of discovery, it was destined not to be New 
Spain, but New England. 

The site of the new struggle was to be on the 
Atlantic shore of the Land of Flowers, near the 
present city of St. Augustine. 

In the realm of flowers, a perfumed land, 
Girt by the sea, by soft winds fanned, 
Ravaged by war in years grown old, 
The former glory a tale long told, 

Stands the quaint old Spanish city. 

Religious motives have had a strong influence in 
the history of the settlement of both North and South 
America. The earliest explorers, no less than Colum- 
bus, looked to the spread of the religion that they 
professed. They thought it their mission to convert 
the natives, or, as we have seen, to kill them in the 
attempt. The men with whom we have had to do 
thus far were all devoted to the service of the Church 
of Rome. Columbus wished to promulgate its doc- 
trines. Cortereal was a son of the same church, Ponce 
de Leon, Balboa, Cortes, Pizarro, Verazzano, Cartier, 
Champlain, all were loyal to the Pope, and we have 
seen that De Soto took with him a goodly number of 



FREH ( II II UG I r EN0T8. 



75 



ecclesiastics. These latter performed the solemn 
offices of the Church, with the magnificence which 
attended them in the rich cathedrals of Spain, as they 
pursued their hopeless pilgrimage through the wilds 
of Alabama, Florida and Arkansas. 

Now the Protestants appear for the first time on the 
scene. The followers of Calvin made attempts to fix 




A MEXICAN TEMPLE. 



settlements of their body on the coast of Brazil, and 
with the assistance of the renowned French Hugue- 
not, Gaspard de Coligni, a large company of emi- 
grants left France July 12, 1555, and founded the 
city of Rio Janeiro. The effort was not successful, 
and most of the colonists either returned to France, 



76 HE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

owing to the perfidy of their leader, Nicholas, Chevalier 
tic Villegagnon, who renounced Protestantism, or were 
driven home by the Portuguese a few years later. 

This failure did not daunt the Admiral de Coligni, 
and he determined to make another effort, this time 
sending the colony to a point far removed from the 
habitations of civilized men. Under patent from the 
boy-king, Charles IX., Coligni sent out an expedition 
under command of Jean Ribault, a native of Dieppe. 
Ribault arrived off the shores of Florida on the last 
of April, 1562, and sailed along the coast viewing it 
'* with unspeakable pleasure of the odorous smell and 
beauty of the same, and did behold to and fro the 
goodly order of the woods wherewith God had decked 
every way the said land." 

One point reached by this party was probably just 
south of the present city of St. Augustine. On the 
morning of the first of May, Ribault and his men 
landed, were kindly received by the natives, and, pros- 
trating themselves on the earth, rendered thanks to 
God for their safe arrival, and asked his protection in 
the strange land. They were amazed at the beauty of 
the scenery about them, and were deluded by the gold 
and silver ornaments that the savages were adorned 
with into the belief that there were rich mines of the 
precious metals not far distant. They did not then 
know that the gold mines the Indians worked were 
the wrecks of Spanish vessels cast upon their shores 
by the sea. 

After his pleasant interviews with the natives, 
Ribault saded to the northward, and discovered Port 
Royal, which he named, and there he cast anchor on 
the twenty-seventh of May. He took possession of 



I! IB A l ■ L T . 1 T PORT IK> YA L. 77 

the country in the name of the king of France, plant- 
ing a column of stone to testify to the ownership. The 
same ceremony had been performed at their first land- 
ing-place. Erecting a fort called Caroline, and leaving 
a colony of twenty-six persons to occupy it, Ribault 
sailed to the north, on the eleventh of June, but he 
soon turned again towards France, where he arrived 
in July. The colonists had not remained in the wil- 
derness long before they had grown tired of their life, 
and, building a frail vessel, sailed also in the same 
direction. They suffered great distress, and but a 
portion of them ever again saw their Mother Country. 

When Ribault arrived at home he found France 
involved in religious war; but on the first opportunity, 
Coligni presented the case of the colonists to the 
king, and obtained ships to be sent to the succor of 
those whom Ribault had left behind. The fleet, 
commanded by Captain Laudonniere, who had accom- 
panied Ribault on the first voyage, sailed on the 
twenty-second of April, 1564, and reached Florida on 
the twenty-second of June, but seems not to have 
sought for the colonists at all. It is possible, how- 
ever, that the return of the party had been heard of 
before Ribault left France. 

Thanks were rendered to God for the safe voyage 

and happy arrival, and the company united in singing 

hymns to his praise, praying that the enterprise might 

redound to his glory and to the advancement of the 

Protestant faith.* 

* The fort which was built was named, like that at Port Royal, Caro- 
line, after King Charles (in Latin Carolus), and the entire region after- 
wards took the name Carolina, not from this sovereign, but from the 
English King Charles, who gave the charters to the English companies 
which effected the permanent settlements in the State. 



78 DE SOTO ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

This party proved to be no more successful than the 
former one, and after suffering from seditions and 
desertion, it was determined by Laudonniere to return 
to France. After all preparations had been made for 
the voyage, a sail was descried in the distance which 
proved to be the harbinger of a fleet of Ribault, who 
had taken advantage of a partial cessation of the hos- 
tilities between Charles IX. and the Protestants to 
prosecute the scheme for the colonization of America 
with greater vigor. It was about the end of August, 
1565. A fleet of war vessels was observed coming 
from the sea. They proved to be an expedition sent 
from Spain, to sweep away the Huguenot settlement, 
fitted out by Pedro Menendez de Aviles, with the sup- 
port of Philip II., for the conquest and colonization of 
Florida. 

Menendez had received almost unlimited authority, 
and was accompanied by more than twenty-five hun- 
dred persons. He came in sight of the shores he 
sought on the clay marked in on the calendar with the 
name of St. Augustine, and for that reason gave the 
name of the saint to the harbor and stream, and the 
town of St. Augustine, which he founded, became the 
first permanent settlement within the limits of the 
United States. 

The chaplain of the Spaniards says that when 
Menendez came within speaking distance of the 
French, he asked, " What are you doing in the terri- 
tories of King Philip?" and promptly told them that 
he had been sent by his master to hang and destroy 
all the Lutherans whom he should find either on land 
or sea. Ribault did not wait to be attacked, but set 
sail to encounter the Spaniards. He was hardly at 



MURDEROUS REVENGE. 79 

sea before his fleet was overtaken by a severe storm 
which destroyed every vessel, though the men mostly 
were saved. Menendez saw that his opportunity had 
arrived, and despite the arduous nature of the at- 
tempt, led his men across the country towards the 
French settlement, which he knew was in a defence- 
less condition. A sudden attack and a short fight 
made him master of the destinies of the French, and 
he massacred all who were unable to escape to the 
woods or the sea. Over the remains of the French- 
men Menendez placed the inscription, " Not as French- 
men, but as Lutherans." He returned to Spain the 
next year in triumph, but with the loss of his 
fortune. 

This disaster did not close the attempts of the 
French to establish a colony in Florida. The court 
did not make any effort to revenge the loss of its citi- 
zens, but Dominic de Gourgues, a gentleman of Gas- 
cony, sold his property, and, by the aid of his friends, 
fitted out a fleet of three vessels, on which he em- 
barked one hundred and fifty men with the purpose of 
destroying the Spaniards. De Gourgues captured the 
Spanish forts near the mouth of the St. Matheo, and 
hanged his prisoners, placing over them the inscrip- 
tion, " Not as Spaniards or mariners, but as traitors, 
robbers and assassins." Too weak to risk an attack 
from the Spaniards at St. Augustine, De Gourgues 
hastily sailed for home in May, 1568; and with his 
butchery closed the efforts of the French to possess 
themselves of the Floridas or Carolinas.* 



*Mr. Parkman, in his "Pioneers of France in the New World," 
treats the subject of this chapter. 



CHAPTER V. 



ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 



THE efforts of the 
English to plant col- 
onies in America were 
to be continued 
for more than a 
century, and in 
time they re- 
sulted in mak- 
ing the new- 
land esse n- 
tially English. 
The first name 
which presents 
itself to our 
notice is that of 
t h e gallant Sir 
Martin Frobisher, who fitted out an expedition to dis- 
cover a northwest passage to China, under the patron- 
age of the Earl of Warwick, and was the first English- 
man to make this attempt. Ele did not succeed, 
hut he left his name on " Frobisher's Strait." His 
expedition left England Juuc 8th, 1576, being bidden 
Godspeed by Queen Elizabeth, who waved her hand 
towards the vessels as they passed Greenwich. Fro- 

80 




Till-: \i.\ Yl LOWER. 



SIR FH.l.XCfS DRAKE. 



81 



bisher discovered in the New World something that 
he considered gold, and the queen lent him a vessel 
for a second voyage, which he made in 1578, but 
without greater success than he had on the first occa- 
sion. He accompanied Sir Francis Drake to the 
West Indies in 1585, and in 1588 battled bravely 
against the Spanish Armada at home, but did not visit 
America again. 

British progress in naval domination was accel- 




JIAP OF CAPE COD. 



crated by the irregular expeditions of Sir Francis 
Drake, who appears to us now as little better than a 
pirate, but who by his voyage around the world, and 
his raids on the ships of Spain, had exceedingly 



82 



ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 



excited the spirit of adventure and the cupidity of his 
countrymen. Two step-brothers, Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert and Sir Walter Raleigh, courtiers of Queen Eliz- 
abeth and true Protestants, appear next among the 
venturous discoverers. Gilbert had obtained a patent 

in 1578, authorizing him to 
make a plantation in Amer- 
ica, when Raleigh returned 
from assisting Admiral Col- 
igni and the Huguenots in 
France, and 
the Prince of 
Orange in the 
Netherlands , 
and the two 
put to s e a. 
but were 
obliged to re- 
turn without 
having made 
land. 

In 1583, 
another expe- 
dition set out. 
Raleigh was 
prevented 
from accom- 
panying i t , 
but sub- 
scribed the 

very generous sum of two thousand pounds towards 
its expenses. It was no more successful than the 
former venture. Newfoundland was reached and 




SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S CHAIR. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 83 

taken possession of in the name of the queen, but on 
the return voyage Gilbert went down with one of the 
vessels.* 

Raleigh was not daunted, and having himself 
obtained another patent, in 1584 sent out two vessels, 
which, under the command of Sir Philip Amidas and 
Arthur Barlow, touched on the coast of North Caro- 
lina, named the land " Virginia," after the virgin 
queen, and returned to England. In 1585, 1586 and 
1587, Raleigh sent out colonies, a town called 
Raleigh, on Roanoke Island, being founded by John 
White in the last mentioned year. The colonists all 
disappeared in a manner not now known, and with 
the colony perished the first child of English parents 
ever born on American soil, Virginia Dare, grand- 
daughter of John White, the Governor of the settle- 
ment. 

The era of colonization in America is coincident 
with the Stuart dynasty (1603-1727), though the 
abortive efforts of Raleigh had occurred in the reign 
of Elizabeth, and though the colonization of Georgia 
was not begun by Oglethorpe until 1733. As the 
reign of Elizabeth was closing, Bartholomew Gosnold, 
one of those who had accompanied Raleigh to Vir- 
ginia, was placed by the Earl of Southampton in 
command of an expedition to plant a colony in " Vir- 
ginia." He saijed directly west, starting March 26th, 
1602, and in seven weeks reached Massachusetts Bay, 
making land probably not far from Nahant. He 
visited and named Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, 
and anchoring at the mouth of Buzzard's Bay, began 
his colony on an island that is now known by its 
* See Longfellow's " Sir Humphrey Gilbert." 



84 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

Indian name, Cuttyhunk. It was not long, however, 
before disputes arose, and dangers from the Indians 
and from scarcity of food, and the colony returned to 
England, where they arrived by the eighteenth of 
June. 

The reports of Gosnold excited much curiosity and 
desire to see the land of "Virginia," an indication of 
which is found in one of the plays of John Marston, 
long popular, entitled " Eastward Ho." In it there 
is a conversation about the wondrous land, in which 
the following words occur : 

I tell thee, gold is more plentiful there than copper is with us, and 
for as much red copper as I can bring, I'll have thrice the weight in 
gold Why, man, all their dripping-pans are pure gold, and all the 
chains with which they chain up their streets are massy gold ; all the 
prisoners they take are fettered in gold ; and for rubies and diamonds, 
they go forth in holidays and gather 'em by the seashore to hang on 
their children's coats and stick in their children's caps as commonly 
as our children wear saffron gilt brooches, and groats with holes in 
'em. . . (It is as pleasant a country withal) as ever the sun shined 
on, temperate, and full of all sorts of excellent viands. . . Then 
for your means to advancement, there it is simple and not preposter- 
ously mixt. You may be an alderman there, and never be scavenger; 
you may be any other officer, and never be a slave. . Besides, 

there we shall have no more law than conscience, and not too much of 
either; serve God enough, eat and drink enough, and "enough is as 
good as a feast." 

The conversation from which the above is taken, 
occurred in a tavern by " Billingsgate," and gives a 
clue to the persons interested in Virginia, as well as 
the sort of expectations they desired to satisfy. The 
persons were "Seagull," " Spendall," and "Scape- 
thrift." The interest was not limited to such charac- 
ters, for Raleigh and Sir Richard Hakluyt united to 
further an investigation of the country by Martin 



TUB FIRST VIRGINIA CHARTER. 85 

Pring, who left England in 1603, and the earl of 
Southampton and Lord Arundel promoted another 
expedition which went out in 1605, Both of these 
parties returned with glowing accounts of the new 
country. 

Aside from the titled patrons of discovery and 
colonization, Hakluyt was no ordinary man. Having 
been interested in cartography in his school-days by 
seeing a map on, the table of a friend in the Inner 
Temple, he devoted himself very largely to the study 
of geography when he was at Oxford, and became 
one of the best geographers of the day. He was 
deeply interested in the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 
and became historiographer to the East India Com- 
pany, whose work was much influenced by his advice. 
In 1606 he was prebendary of Westminster, but did 
not give up his fondness for his favorite study. It 
was owing to his influence that King James was 
induced to grant a patent for the colonization of Vir- 
ginia. Hakluyt became the historian of English nav- 
igation at this period, and his works are a mine of 
information to the historical student. 

April 10, 1606, King James granted the privilege of 
planting colonies to two companies, at any point be- 
tween South Carolina and New Brunswick ; the " Lon- 
don Company" being limited to the territory lying 
south of Maryland, and the " Plymouth Company " to 
that north of the present site of New Haven, the 
intermediate region being open to both, subject to 
the restriction that neither should plant a colony 
within one hundred miles of one of the other com- 
pany. No limit was put to progress westward. 

Each company sent out a colony in the year 1607 ; 



86 



ENGLISH SETTLEMEJS' TS. 



that of the London Company reaching the coast of 
Virginia and entering Chesapeake Bay on the twenty- 
sixth of April, and the other, under the direction of 
George Popham, arriving at the Kennebec River in 



*».*? "&s&2& 










LEYDEN STREET, PLYMOUTH, MASS. 

the following August. The latter party did not 
remain long, and returned to England with the report 
that "Virginia" was too cold for comfort. 



VIRGINIA TOO COLD. 87 

The ships of the London Company named the 
headlands at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, Cape 
Charles and Cape Henry, after the two sons of the 
king, and the point near Fortress Monroe, " Comfort," 
from the satisfaction they found in "the goodly bay." 
On the thirteenth of May the voyagers stopped at a 
peninsula some fifty, miles up the river, which had 
received the name of the king, and the town they 
founded there was called Jamestown. The chief 
genius of this company was Captain John Smith, 
though he was not at first the official leader of the 
colonists. On the twenty-second of June the largest 
of the ships returned to England, with its commander, 
Christopher Newport, and two months later the navi- 
gator, Bartholomew Gosnold, died. 

In 1608, two women reached the colony, besides a 
considerable number of men, but the new-comers 
were not of the sort adapted to establish a "plantation." 
It would have been well if the Company had paid 
attention to the principles laid down in Bacon's essay 
on Plantations, written at about this time. He said, 
" It is a shameful and unblessed thing to take the 
scum of people and wicked condemned men to be the 
people with whom you plant;" and yet it was from 
this class that the Virginian colony was largely 
recruited for a hundred years. Among the earliest 
settlers were no small number of men of idle habits 
entirely unaccustomed to work, and unable to endure 
the hardships of pioneers. Smith was able to 
force the reluctant idlers to work, but he was obliged 
to return to England in 1609, ostensibly for treat- 
ment, having received a severe wound by the explo- 
sion of gunpowder. He explored the bays and rivers, 



88 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

and on one occasion (because the Company had given 
the usual direction that a passage to the South Sea 
should be sought in streams running to and from the 
northwest*) sailed up the Chickahominy as far as his 
boats would go, and was then captured by the Indi- 
ans. Smith's first account of his explorations was 
published in 1608, and in it he stated that "King" 
Powhatan received him with kindness ; but some years 
later, when he was writing an account of his captivity 
for Queen Anne,f wife of James I., he embellished 
it with the well-known story of the dramatic saving of 
his life by Pocahontas, which is not consistent with 
the earlier narrative, and is now generally deemed 
apocryphal. $ 

The colony suffered many distresses. At one time 
the number was in a period of six months reduced 
from nearly five hundred to sixty. The London 
Company had been desirous of sudden wealth, and 
had been disappointed. In 1609, a new charter was 
granted, and Lord de la Ware was appointed gover- 
nor. The wretched remnant of the colony was on 
the point of returning to England, when the ships 
of the Governor appeared. De la Ware was, however, 

* The rapids in the St. Lawrence at Montreal were named La Chine 
because the French explorers supposed that by continuing up the 
river they should reach China. 

t Queen Anne died in 1619, and the "little book" which is said to 
have been written for her, was probably printed in 1616 or 1617. The 
story was repeated in Smith's "Generall Historic" published in 1624. 

1 The inconsistency of the story of Pocahontas and its improba- 
bility were first brought to notice by Charles Deane, LL. D., of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, in 1859, in his note to Edward Maria 
Wlngfield's "Discourse of Virginia." See also "North American 
Review," January, 1867. 



FIRST REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. 89 

attacked by disease, and returned to England, but the 
colony was repeatedly augmented by new emigrants, 
and in 1612, anew charter was given it, this being the 
third, It gave a democratic form to the government, 
but did not really improve the condition of the colonists. 
In 1619, Sir George Yeardley arrived and took up the 
reins of government. He found affairs in a bad 
state. The London Company had by that time lost 
much of their interest in it, and the colonists had 
long suffered from bad local management. 

Yeardley abrogated the cruel laws of former rulers, 
and established a representative government, direct- 
ing that a " General Assembly," consisting of the gov- 
ernor and council and two burgesses from each "plan- 
tation " should meet yearly and make laws for the gen- 
eral good. The first meeting of this body, the first 
representative assembly ever held in America, was 
convened at Jamestown, July 30, 1619. It took steps 
for the establishment of a college, ordained that the 
Church of England should be the church of Virginia, 
that the Sabbath should be observed, and that the 
colonists were expected to attend service twice a day. 
Measures were initiated for the education of the 
Indians, and various other needful laws were framed, 
which went into immediate force. Thus theJirst per- 
manent settlement of Englishmen was established 
in America. It was not composed of families, for the 
original settlers came without women, though families 
grew up, for many women were sent out from time to 
time who became wives and mothers of children. A 
bad element was introduced in 1619, when one hun- 
dred convicts arrived, having been sent from English 
prisons by order of the king, to be sold as servants. 



90 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

The same year is marked by the arrival of the first 
African slaves, twenty of whom were brought to 
Jamestown by a Dutch trading vessel. The cultiva- 
tion of tobacco had already been prosecuted, and at 
about this time the culture of cotton was also entered 
upon.* 

The name " New England" was first given to terri- 
tory in America by Captain John Smith, who, in 1614, 
examined the coast from the Penobscot t© Cape Cod, 
made a map of it, and called it New England. If we 
pass over the records of the Sagas,f on the basis of 
which it is said that Lief, son of Eric the Red, 
entered Boston harbor in the year 1004, we find that 
the northerly coast of the United States was first dis- 
covered by Cabot, in 1497 ; that it was visited by 
Cortereal, Verazzano and others, and that in 1602, 
Bartholomew Gosnold built the first house within the 
limits of Massachusetts, on the island of Cuttyhunk, 
near Martha's Vineyard. Martha's Vineyard was 
next touched, but not settled, in 1603, by Martin 

*To this period belongs the romantic story of Pocahontas, the 
daughter of Powhatan. Reference has already been made to her 
reputed interference to save Captain John Smith from death at the 
hands of her father When a child, Pocahontas was wont to play 
about the streets of Jamestown, indulging in romping games with the 
town boy», that were quite unworthy of a king's daughter. In 1609, 
she travelled a long distance through the woods at night to inform 
Smith of a plot of her father against his life. For this she seems to 
have suffered her father's resentment. In 161 3, she was stolen from 
her father and held for ransom, but while negotiations were in progress 
she was married, with her father's consent, to John Rolfe, who formed 
an attachment for her that was reciprocated. In 1616, she went to 
England, was presented at court, attracted much attention, and died 
as she was regretfully preparing to go back to Virginia. She left a 
son, who settled in Virginia and became founder of a family of note. 

t See page 24. 



THE PILGRIMS OF PLYMOUTH. 



91 



Pring, and the expedition under the patronage of 
Popham, in 1607, made a settlement in Maine, which 
did not endure. Smith made great exertions to 
establish a colony there, but without success. 

The most positive advance that had yet been made 
in colonization was that of 1620, when the Pilgrims 
landed at Plymouth. A patent was granted by King 
James to a body called " The Council established at 

Plymouth, in De- 
von, for the plant- 
ing, ruling, order- 
ing and governing 
New England," 
but it was not 
signed for two 
months after the 
Pilgrims sailed for 
.. America, and it 
^ was, therefore, not 
- under that docu- 
^ ment that the new 
settlement was 
made. The " Pil- 
grims " were those 
Puritans who hav- 
ing broken away 
from the Church of England, had, in 1608, emigrated 
to Holland, and, after living a dozen years in Leyden, 
had determined to go to the wildernesses of the New 
World, in order that they might feel less as strangers 
in a strange country, and might bring their children 
up where the language of their mothers was spoken ; 
they had left their homes because they would not cou- 




ch ah: OF ELDEK BHEWSTEli. 



y2 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

form to the established Church, and were persecuted 
for it, and because they disapproved the laws that 
their king forced upon them. They were men of 
strong character, and fixed determination ; they were 
men of prayer, and before every step looked up to 
Heaven for guidance. Having left England before 
the King had issued the patent to the new company, 
and as they made land north of the limits of the Vir- 
ginia company,* the passengers on the Mayflower 
considered it necessary to enter into a covenant that 
should bind all to obey such laws as should be enacted 
for the common weal. On the day that the vessel 
entered Cape Cod harbor (Nov. 21st, n. s.), they 
solemnly put their names to a covenant (as loyal 
subjects of King James who had undertaken to plant 
the first colony in the "northern part of Virginia," 
for the " glory of God and the advancement of the 
Christian faith " f), authorizing the enactment of such 
"just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions 
and offices, from time to time," as should be thought 
most meet and convenient for the general good of the 
colony, unto which they promised all due submission 
and obedience. In 1843, John Quincy Adams said : 
"The Plymouth Colony is remarkable for having fur- 
nished the first example in modern times, of a social 
compact or system of government, instituted by volun- 
tary agreement, conformably to the laws of nature, by 
men of equal rights and about to establish their per- 
manent habitation in a new country." 

* The intention had been to settle near the Hudson River, within the 
limits of the Virginian colony, where they would have been under 
existing laws. 

t The Rev. George E. Ellis says, " Our fathers never meditated the 



A SKIRMISH. 95 

On the day that this Social Compact was signed, 
the Pilgrims set on shore a party of explorers, con- 
sisting of sixteen armed men, under the command of 
Captain Miles Standish, not far from the present site 
of Provincetown, at the end of Cape Cod. On Mon- 
day some of the women went ashore and inaugurated 
the New England "washing-day," while the men 
"refreshed themselves," as their journal says they 
had "great need" of both changes from the long 
confinement of shipboard. On Wednesday, Stan- 
dish started out with his exploring party again, land- 
ing at " Long Point," and soon encountered the first 
savages, who fled at their approach. 

On the seventeenth of December a third exploring 
party of eighteen, including Standish, and William 
Bradford, afterwards for eighteen years governor of 
the colony, left the ship and soon came in sight of 
the Indians again. A clay or two later they have a 
skirmish with them, one being slightly wounded. 
On Saturday, December 19, they explored "Clark's 
Island," and on the next day, they rested and 
engaged in social worship. On the twenty-first, 
being Monday, they sounded the harbor, and landed 
on the mainland, setting their feet on a large .rock 
embedded in the sand just n 
at the water's edge This ^SaH. JygM^ 
rock has become historic ^ J 

and is protected with care, a costly canopy of stone 

free opening of their patented and purchased territory as a place of 
refuge to all sorts of consciences, but designed it, as a man designs 
his house, as a place of peace, comfort and discipline, for those who 
are of one mind, and feeling, and interest." They are not to be 
condemned for inconsistency, therefore, in not tolerating those who 
differed from them. 



96 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

having been erected over it, as Alexis de Tocqueville 
says, " The feet of a few outcasts having pressed it for 
an instant, it becomes famous." * 

The next day the party returned to the vessel which 
was still anchored at the end of the Cape, and were 
greeted with joy by their fellow-pilgrims who feared 
that they had been lost. Bradford was saddened by 
the news that his wife had fallen overboard and 
been drowned the day after his departure. 

On Friday, December 25th, the Mayflower sailed 
for Plymouth harbor, and anchored inside of Clark's 
Island the next day. After long examination, it was 
determined to establish the town on the mainland, 
and by the fourth of January (1621) some of the 
women and children landed for the first time at Plym- 
outh. Even after that the ship remained the home 
of most of the voyagers, who did not all disembark 
until the thirty-first of March, 1621. 

During the time that had elapsed since the arrival 
of the Mayflower, the deaths among the Pilgrims had 
averaged one every three days, and now of one hun- 
dred and two persons there remained scarcely one 
half. Forty-four died within four months, and seven 
more before the first year had ended. Still, their 
hearts were strong, and they saw the Mayflower 
leave them on her return voyage, on the fifth of 
April, without a desire to seek again their more com- 
fortable homes. 

We have seen that at a very early period the settlers 
came in contact with the Indians, but friendly rela- 

*In an elaborate article published in the Atlantic (Nov., 1881) Mr. S. 
H. Gay denies that the exploring party landed on the historic rock 
on Dec. 21, 1620, but this view is not supported by other investigators. 



NEWS FBOM HOME. 



99 



JjlyMJ 5 fcitidttfi 







tions were for a long time maintained, a treaty of 
amity and mutual aid having been very soon made. 
This was renewed in 1639, and again in 1662, but it 
was broken in 1675, by Philip, successor of Massassoit 
who made it. 

John Carver was elected Governor of the colony 
for the first year. He died just after the Mayflower 

had sailed on 
her return voy- 
age, and Wil- 
liam Bradford 
was chosen to 
fill the vacan- 
cy. Miles Stan- 
dish was the 
military man 
of the party, 
and achieved 
great reputa- 
tion by his suc- 
cessful deal- 
ings with the 
natives. It ap- 
pears that the Indians about Plymouth were in a state 
of decline at this time, their numbers having been 
weakened by disease, pestilence and war. 

The colonists first heard from home in November, 
1 62 1, when the ship Fortune arrived with some thirty 
emigrants and a patent from the Plymouth Com- 
pany, * for all efforts to obtain a charter directly from 
the King had been unavailing. After a few years of 

*"It was dated June 1st, 1621, and is interesting as being the first 
grant of which we have any record, made by the great Plymouth Com- 




FAC-SIMILE OF THE SIGNATURE OF MILES 
STANDISH. ALSO HIS KETTLE, swoKD 
AND DISH. 



100 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

hardship the colony began to thrive and the governing 
power was, in 1641, transferred to the entire body of 
freemen, and a settlement was made with the partners 
in England, by which their interest in the enterprise 
was extinguished. It had been at first a joint stock 
company, but in 1623, the lands were divided, and 
each man became an individual property holder. 
Subsequently the government was administered by a 
governor, a council of five (afterwards of seven) and a 
legislature comprising the entire male population. 
This organization was not given up until 1692, when 
Plymouth united with the colony of Massachusetts 
Bay.* 

Meantime other efforts had been made to settle 
the shores of New England. The history of these 
attempts is a succession of records of conflicting 
grants, and for a long period, of inconsequent expedi- 
tions. The coast had been explored by Bartholomew 
Gosnold, in 1602-3, and in November, 1603, a patent 
was obtained by Pierre Uu Gast, Sieur De Monts, 
including the region from the fortieth to the forty- 
sixth degree (from the present site of Philadelphia to 
the site of Montreal), which he called Acadie. In 1605 

pany." (Bradford's " History of Plymouth Plantation," p, 10S, note 
by Charles Deane.) 

A second charter was granted in 1622, but soon after cancelled, and 
a third in 1630, to the Plymouth colony, represented by " William 
Bradford, his heirs and associates." This last was by Bradford for- 
merly assigned to the body of freemen, in 1641. 

* Before the arrival of Andros, in 1686, there were six governors of 
Plymouth colony: John Carver, 1620-21 ; William Bradford, 1621-32 
1635, 1637, 1639-43, 1645-56; Edward Winslow, 1633, 1636, 1644, 
Thomas Prince, 1634, 1638, 1657, 1672; Josiah Winslow, 1673-80; and 
Thomas Hinckley, from 1681 to 1686 



SUNDRY SETTLERS. 101 

De Monts explored as far south as Cape Cod, and 
claimed the country for France. A portion of this 
territory, extending from the Passamaquoddy River to 
the St. Lawrence, was granted, by the Plymouth 
Company, in 1621, to Sir William Alexander, Lord 
Stirling, a favorite of James I. Alexander ignored 
the French claim, and intended to interpose a colony 
of Scotch Presbyterians between the settlements of 
the French on the north and those of the Puritans to 
the south of him. He called the region Nova Scotia. 
No permanent settlement resulted from his efforts. 

In 161 3, Madame De Guercheville, who had come 
into possession of the title of De Monts to Acadie, 
sent out a missionary expedition, which made an 
attempt to settle on Mount Desert Island, but it was 
attacked by Captain Argall, from Virginia, and dis- 
persed. 

In 1620, King James made a division of the great 
grant of 1606, giving to the Plymouth Company (of 
England) the territory between the fortieth and forty- 
eighth degrees, and to the Virginia Company the por- 
tion of the original grant which lay to the south. 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges was one of the leading 
spirits of the Plymouth Company, and in 1622, he 
obtained from it a grant to himself and John Mason 
of the territory between the Merrimac and the Ken- 
nebec, the sea and the St. Lawrence. The region 
was named Laconia. Under this grant settlements 
were begun at Dover and Portsmouth. 

In 1629, this partnership was dissolved, and Mason 
obtained the region between the Merrimac and the 
Piscataqua, which he called New Hampshire, though 
the name was not used to any extent for nearly half a 



102 



ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 



century. In 1635 tne Plymouth Company was dis- 
solved, the members receiving patents for the portions 
they were entitled to. By this division the right of 
Gorges to the tract between the Piscataqua and the 




THE BUST LOOM OF THE EAlil.Y SETTMEIIS 



Kennebec, then called for the first time Maine (the 
mainland), was confirmed. 

In 1623, Captain Christopher Levett explored the 
coast of Maine, and built a house near the site of the 
present city of Portland, but did not establish any 
permanent settlement. 



THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY. 103 

In fact the early settlements in Maine were not so 
well denned and compact as those of other colonies 
were. The towns of Biddeford and Saco, begun in 
1630, by Richard Vines and John Oldham, under a 
grant from the Plymouth Council, were the first ef- 
fectual attempts at settlements in Maine. The first 
court properly organized within the territory of Maine, 
was held at Saco, in 1636, under the government of 
William Gorges, nephew of Sir Ferdinando. 

In 1628-9 the Council of Plymouth in England made 
a grant to John Endicott and twenty-five others, who 
organized as "the governor and company of the Mas- 
sachusetts Bay in New England," of territory extend- 
ing three miles south of the Charles River and Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, and three miles north of the Merrimac 
River, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. *' 
A colony was immediately sent out under Endicott, 
which arrived at Salem in September. The settle- 
ment was governed by the corporation in England, 
whom Endicott was chosen to represent. The emi- 
grants were well equipped for the enterprise. They 
were Nonconformists, but approved a union of Church 
and State, and professed that their aim in emigrating 
was to " propagate the Gospel," though the charter 
authorized a mercantile corporation, like that of the 
East India Company, which was perhaps necessary in 
a legal document. 

* It was under this charter that Massachusetts claimed territory as 
far west as the Mississippi. (See map, opposite p. 235.) The old 
charters excepted from their grants territory claimed by Christians, and 
therefore the domain of Massachusetts was broken by the intervention 
of New York and Canada. These claims by the colonies to extensive 
western tracts proved one of the obstacles to a union of the thirteen 
colonies at the time of the Revolution. 



104 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

In 1629, other emigrants arrived led by the Rev. 
Francis Higginson, who organized the first church 
the same year. It is said that when the vessel was 
leaving the shores of the Mother Country in the 
distance, Higginson said to the passengers, " Farewell, 
dear England ! Farewell, the Church of God in Eng- 
land, and all the Christian friends there! We do not 
go to New England as Separatists, though we cannot 
but separate from the corruptions of it ; but we go to 
practise the positive parts of Church reformation and 
propagate the Gospel in America." 

Higginson reported that including those who came 
with him, there were about three hundred planters, of 
whom a hundred were settled at Salem (then called 
Naumkeag), and the others on Massachusetts Bay, at 
a place called " Charton," or Charlestown. 

In 1629, a notable change occurred in the govern- 
ment of the new colony.* Before that time all local 
authority had been subordinate to that of the home 
council (orignally designed, as has been said, for the 
direction of a private mercantile company) but then 
twelve men of more than ordinary importance and 
wealth, began to move for the transfer of the governing 
power to America. In August the vote was taken to 
transfer the entire government with the patent, and the 
courts were thenceforward to be holden on the Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, instead of in London. This was done 
without license of King or Parliament, and is an indi- 
cation of the facts that the colonists had a Spirit of inde- 
pendence developed at this early period, and that the 

*See "The Memorial History of Boston," Vol. 1. chap, x, for an 
account of the Massachusetts charter and the struggle to maintain it, 
written by Charles Deane, LL. D. 



JOHX WINTHROP. 105 

limits of their dependence on the Crown was never 
exactly defined. 

Under this new arrangement John Winthrop,* of 
Groton, in Suffolk, was elected Governor, and he 
made preparation to go over the sea. He was a man 
of rare attainments, of large income, a godly man, one 
accustomed to hear the highest matters of state policy 
discussed by the men in England best able to do it. 
He and his associates belonged to that class of which 
a part remained in England to be, as Palfrey says, 
the founders of "the short-lived English republic." 
They had been members of Parliament and were well 
informed regarding all the late movements in then- 
national affairs, which were at the time in an active 
state of ferment. Seeing that thick clouds were 
gathering in England, they doubtless expected to estab- 
lish a community to which free spirits should flock if 
they were without an asylum at home. 

Like Endicott, Winthrop had a warm feeling for 
England and the establishment, and as the party left 
the shores of their native land, they breathed warm 
prayers for the Church of England, which they said 
they esteemed it an honor to call "dear mother." 

Seventeen vessels comprised the fleet, and carried 
some eight hundred souls. Twelve hundred more ar- 
rived soon afterwards. They found that a quarter of 
the latest emigrants had died during the winter ; that 
Higginson himself was rapidly sinking with a hectic 
fever, and that there was so great a scarcity of pro- 
visions, that the corn was not sufficient for a fort- 
night's supply. The site of Salem did not please 

* See the Atlantic Monthly for January, 1S64, for an account of 
" Governor John Winthrop in Old England," by Rev. G. E. Ellis. 



106 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

Winthrop, and he removed the colony in July, 1630, 
to Charlestown, though a portion went to Watertown, 
others remained at Salem, and some stopped at 
" Saugus " and founded Lynn. There being a want 
of good water at Charlestown, which produced an 
epidemic, some removed to "Trimountain," the name 
of which was changed to Boston, where the first 
" General Court " of the company was holden, October 
19. * Dorchester, Roxbury and Mystic were soon 
settled, and the colony then counted eight " planta- 
tions," as they were called. 

During the winter many died, and more suffered 
for want of proper food. In February, 1630, when a 
fast was about to be kept to implore divine succor, a 
vessel arrived with provisions, and a day of thanks- 
giving was held instead. 

On this vessel arrived one who was destined to play 
a very important part in the New World — the Rev. 
Roger Williams, a native of Wales, at this time 
twenty-four years of age and well educated. A friend 
of John Milton, it is not strange that he should have 
sympathized with that great man in some of his 
noblest sentiments. He was called to take the place 
left vacant in Salem by the death of Higginson, and 
though he accepted the call, his stay was brief, owing 
to persecution on the part of the church at Boston, 
with which he did not entirely agree in minor matters. 

*At Boston they found an Episcopal clergyman, William Black- 
stone, established, who had lived for several years in a house situated 
at a point near the Common and Public Garden, not far from the 
corner of Beacon and Charles streets. He preferred solitude and soon 
sold his rights and removed to the region about the Blackstone River. 
Blackstone was "the Hermit of Shawmut " described in an entertain- 
ing manner, by J. Lothop Motley. 



MRS. HUTCHINSON. 107 

Retiring to Plymouth, he was called back as successor 
of Skelton (who had been the associate of Higginson), 
and remanied at Salem until banished from the colony 
in 1635, by order of the General Court. With some 
of his friends who were indignant at this treatment, 
he determined to establish himself on the shores of 
Narragansett Bay, but when he found that prepara- 
tions were made to carry him to England, he aban- 
doned his friends and family and set out for the new 
site which had been chosen as without the limits of 
any existing colony. There he laid the foundation of 
Providence and of the State of Rhode Island, in the 
broadest principles of civil and religious liberty, 
making a " covenant of peaceable neighborhood with 
all the sachems and nations " round about him. 

In 1638, Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, who had been ban- 
ished as Williams had been, from Massachusetts, for 
entertaining and preaching doctrines not approved by 
the majority, went to Newport, Rhode Island. She 
had arrived in Boston in 1634, and became a power in 
the town. She gathered the women and preached to 
them with eloquence and ability. The church was 
intensely excited.* On her part stood Vane, the new 
Governor (the one apostrophized by Milton in his 
well-known sonnet), the Rev. John Wheelwright (her 
brother or brother-in-law), and a large number of the 

* Mrs. Hutchinson was " a high-minded and excellent woman," of 
deep religious experience, who sought to win others to her own faith. 
She was an ancestor of Governor Thomas Hutchinson. The historian 
of the controversy regarding her opinions calls it " one of the most 
shameful proceedings recorded in the annals of Protestantism," differ- 
ing little save in the lightness of its penalty, from the trials instituted 
by the Inquisition. Apparently fearing that she would be pursued even 
in Rhode Island, Mrs. Hutchinson removed to the neighborhood of the 
Dutch, where she was massacred by the Indians, in 1643. 



108 &NGL1SH SETTLEMENTS. 

members of the church. Her opinions were, however, 
denounced by a synod, and banishment followed. 

The territory of Connecticut was early a matter of 
dispute. It was first explored near the mouth of the 
river, by the Dutch from New Netherlands, but the 
claim that they put forth for it was disputed by the 
Plymouth company, within the limits of whose grant 
from James I., it certainly lay, and by the patentees of 
the " Colony of Connecticut,*' who had obtained their 
grant March 19, 163 1. During that year the Saga- 
more of the Connecticut Valley sent to Governor 
Winthrop, asking him to send some Englishmen to 
settle his country. The same message was sent to 
Governor Winslow at Plymouth, but neither request 
was immediately granted. 

In 1633, Captain William Holmes sailed from Plym 
outh with the frame for a trading house, which he 
erected at Windsor, on the Connecticut River, and in 
May, 1634, several parties which had settled at New- 
town (now Cambridge) asked permission to " look 
out for either enlargement or removal," intending to 
go to the Connecticut valley, but when their purpose 
became known, their request was refused. Despite 
the refusal, some, probably from Watertown, erected 
a few huts at Wethersfield, constituting it the first 
settled town in Connecticut. Late in the autumn of 

1635, others prepared to remove, and in the spring of 

1636, a company of one hundred persons, led by the 
Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Cambridge (the "grave, godly 
and judicious Hooker" of Johnson's Wonder-working 
Providence), marched on foot towards the rich mead- 
ows of the Connecticut. Hooker was one of the 
three great ministers of New England at the time, 



CONNECTICUT SETTLEMENTS. 109 

the others being Thomas Shepard, of Cambridge, and 
John Cotton, of Boston. He was a man born to 
direct. His followers had implicit faith in him as a 
man and a pastor, and they followed him through the 
forests with confidence that good and not evil would 
be with them as long as he was their guide. They 
gave to the town they founded the name of the one 
they had just left, Newtown, but this was soon changed 
for Hartford, after the place of the same name in 
England, which was the birthplace of one of the min- 
isters of the party. A Dutch fort had been erected 
three years before, within the present limits of Hart- 
ford, but the Dutch title was at a later period abrogated 
by the General Court. 

The new town was surrounded by the Pequot In- 
dians, the same that had, in 1634, sent to Boston for 
help against the Narragansetts, but now they were 
relieved of fear from their fellow-savages, and became 
dangerous neighbors for the people of Hartford. 
They made alliance with the other tribes against the 
whites, but were dissuaded from their design by the 
heroic efforts of Roger Williams, who exposed himself 
to procure safety for those who had sent him into the 
wilderness. Still, the calamity was postponed only, 
and hostilities were reciprocated by the murder of the 
Pequots of one John Oldham, who had been banished 
from Plymouth in 1624, for immorality, slander, and 
treason. This man was trading on the river in a ves- 
sel, when he was attacked by the Indians, who were 
found afterwards helplessly sailing out to sea, and were 
overpowered. 

War was declared, and Hartford contributed forty- 
two of the ninety men who enlisted to go against the 



110 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

Indians, who, full of confidence, spent the night before 
the conflict in exultant revelry. They were attacked 
before dawn, and thoroughly defeated, their village 
being burned, and their entire tribe either killed or 
enslaved. The bravery and success of the English 
struck terror into the Indians, and a lasting peace 
ensued. 

In 1635, John Winthrop, son of the Governor of 
Massachusetts, established a colony at the mouth of 
the Connecticut River,* which he called Saybrook, 
in honor of the chief patentees, Lord Say and Seal, 
and Lord Brook. In 1638, New Haven was founded 
by a party from Massachusetts, led by Theophilus 
Eaton, who became its governor, and John Daven- 
port, who was its minister. Other settlements were 
speedily made along the shores of Long Island Sound. 
Eaton was governor of the New Haven Colony for 
twenty years, and Davenport was minister for thirty 
years, when he was called to Boston (in 1667) to take 
the corresponding position there. He was a man of 
remarkable character. Forced by Laud to resign his 
living in England, he went to Holland, whence he 
emigrated to Boston in 1637, led by the representa- 

*The charter granted by Charles II. for Connecticut (April 20, 1662) 
defined the limits of the territory as extending from the Narragansett 
River to the Pacific Ocean, and thus Connecticut, like Massachusetts, 
claimed extensive region in the northwest, a fact that was remembered 
in 1774, when her statesmen drew magnificent pictures of the prospec- 
tive growth of the colonv on " the finest country and happiest climate 
on the globe." — Bancrofts United States, vi., 506. 

The claim of Connecticut was recognized and a tract of nearly four 
million acres was set off to her on the south side of Lake Erie (in 
Ohio) which is still known as the " Western Reserve." Connecticut 
did not give up her jurisdiction over the tract until 1S00, after which 
the land was sold through her agents. (See page 291.) 



THE REGICIDES. 



Ill 




\ i • i ■ i : i r a n dai 



Lions of John Cotton. His 
influence was very great 
in directing the civil pol- 
ity of the colony. Under 
his direction, it was re- 
solved that the Bible is the 
perfect rule of a common- 
wealth, and that none but 
church members should be 
free burgesses. His repu- 
tation was so great that 
he was invited to sit as a 
member of the " Westmin- 
ster Assembly " of di- 
vines, in London. In 
1643, when Whalley and 
Goffe, the regicides, were 
in New Haven, and sought 
by the messengers of the 
king, Davenport hid them, 
and preached to his peo- 
ple from Isaiah xvi. 3, 4. 
<•' Hide the outcasts ; be- 
tray not him that wander- 
eth. Let* mine outcasts 
dwell with thee, Moab : be 
thou a covert to them 
from the face of the 
spoiler." 

In 1639, the colony of 
Connecticut adopted a 
constitution by general 
vote, and it was the first 



112 ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

example in history in which a government had 
been organized and its powers defined under a writ- 
ten constitution. It recognized no higher power than 
the people of the colony, under God, whose word, it 
stated, requires human governments, and it was based 
upon right and justice. It is essentially the constitu- 
tion of Connecticut at the present day. 

The Pequot War, the jealousy of the Dutch, and 
the proximity of the French on the eastern frontier of 
the colonies, led to a feeling that the colonies should 
unite for mutual protection. As early as 1637, nego- 
tiations had been initiated looking to such a confeder- 
acy.* There were many difficulties in the way. The 
weak felt that the strong would have too great power 
in the joint counsels, and the strong feared the weak. 
Besides this, Massachusetts would enter into no 
league with the people of Rhode Island or of Laco- 
nia, for the former had been settled by men at vari- 
ance with the doctrines of the men of Massachusetts, 
and the latter was under the proprietorship of Gorges, 
who was then fighting for the king, to whom, indeed, 
the Rhode Islanders professed allegiance. 

In 1643, however, the four colonies, Plymouth, 
Connecticut, New Haven, and Massachusetts, and 
their dependencies, bound themselves together in "a 
firm and perpetual league of friendship and amity for 
offence and defence, mutual advice and succor, upon 
all just occasions, both for preserving and propagating 
the truth and liberties of the Gospel, and for their own 

* It was on the thirty-first of August of that year that some of the mag- 
istrates and ministers of Connecticut being in Boston a meeting was had 
to confer regarding a confederation. Plymouth Colony had been 
invited, but the notice was so short that no delegates came from there. 



THE UNITED COLONIES. 113 

mutual safety and welfare," under the name of "the 
United Colonies of New England." The reasons given 
for making the confederation include the statement 
that the colonists were " encompassed with people of 
several nations and strange languages," the injuries 
sustained from the Indians, and specially "those sad 
distractions in England," which marked the beginning 
of the war between King and Commons, which might 
make it essential that those in the distant colonies 
who sympathized with the Commons should be united 
if a call for action should come. Times had changed 
since Connecticut had made her suggestion of a union 
six years before. The sentiment in favor of union 
seemed to spread, and the next year there was a plan 
which, however, never reached a practical stage, for a 
confederation of all the English colonies of the West- 
ern Continent. 

Thus was formed the first union of the English on 
this continent. It lasted until the advent of Governor 
Andros, in 1686. In the interim between the over- 
throw of that person and the receipt of the new char- 
ter, Massachusetts * proposed a congress of all the 
colonies, and its General Court sent letters to all the 
colonies, as far, at least, as Maryland. The bodv 
which convened in pursuance of this call, which Mr. 
Bancroft calls "The first Anglo-American Congress," 
met at New York, May 1, 1690, and resolved to 
attempt the conquest of Canada and the invasion of 
Acadie. 

The union of 1643 naturally led the home govern- 
ment to determine to strengthen its hold on its dis- 

*" Massachusetts, the parent of so many States, is certainly the par- 
ent of the American Union."' — Bancroft. 



114 



EXULIS1I SETTLEMEN TS. 



tant dependencies, and to take steps to that end, but 
the time for effective action of the sort had passed. 
The germs of independence had been planted ; a self- 
governing confederation of self-governing common- 
wealths had already been formed in America, and the 
step was not to be retraced. 

The patent under which and Council for New Eng- 
land acted was surrendered to the Crown in 1635. 
The London company planted but one colony, that of 
Virginia; and when, in 1624, its patents were can- 
celled, Virginia was declared a royal province. The 
northern company had established a number of plan- 
tations, but they were permitted to govern themselves. 
One of them, Massachusetts, did this under a royal 
charter. 




A l'OM»SlAL LNlKKIdl;. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SETTLEMENTS BY THE FRENCH. 

MR. PARKMAN says that the story of the 
French efforts to colonize America begins 
with a tragedy. We have read that tragedy in the 
story of the Huguenot plantation under Ribault, and 
we have seen how the slaughter of the colonists was 
avenged by De Gourgues. A new chapter now opens. 

Two years less than a century and a half intervened 
between the discovery of the mouth of the St. Law- 
rence, by Jacques Cartier, in 1534, and the exploration 
of the Mississippi to its mouth in 1682, by the Cheva- 
lier de La Salle. In each case the country was 
solemnly taken possession of in the name of the king 
of France, and the name " New France " was given to 
most of the northern portion of the continent on some 
of the early maps.* 

The adventures of the French during this century 
were thrilling in their interest, and full of import in 
the opening of the new country. The explorers all 
professed the same desire to promote the extension of 
the Christian religion that we have found character- 
istic of the English and Spaniards, but they adopted 
different means and left more lasting memorials of the 
success they attained. They fraternized with the 

* In 1763, France formally renounced a)l claim to territory in North 
America. 

115 



116 



SETTLEMENTS BY THE FRENCH. 



natives in a manner not thought of by men of any 
other nationality. They entered the wigwam, shared 
the blanket and the fare of the Indian, married his 




JACQUES CARTIEB. 

daughters, and in some cases were at length scarcely 
to be distinguished from him. Nicollet, the explorer 
of Wisconsin, is an example of this. 

The names connected with the efforts of the 
French remain attached to the rivers, cities, and 
mountains of Canada, Nova Scotia, the Western Lake 
Region, and the valley of the Mississippi. The chief 



(JARTIKU IN CANADA. 117 

explorers sent from France were Jacques Cartier, 
Samuel tie Champlain, Jacques Marquette, and Robert, 
Chevalier de La Salle. Cartier was commissioned by 
Francis I. to explore the New World, and left St. Malo 
in the spring of 1534. He reached the shores of New- 
foundland after a short voyage, and landed on the 
coast of Labrador, taking possession of the country, 
and planting a cross in testimony of the fact. He 
explored the bay of Chaleurs (which received its name 
from the heat that his company experienced there), 
and entered the mouth of the St. Lawrence, without 
being aware that he was in a river. He arrived in 
France in September, and was back again in June, 
1535. He now sailed up the St. Lawrence, found a 
town called Hochelaga, which he named Mount Royal, 
now Montreal. Like Smith, when he ascended the 
Chickahominy, Cartier hoped to find a passage to the 
westward by the St. Lawrence. He wintered near 
the mouth of the St. Croix, now the St. Charles, and 
after having taken solemn possession of the country 
by erecting a cross bearing the arms of France and an 
inscription, he sailed homeward in May, 1536, carry- 
ing with him ten chiefs whom he had faithlessly 
kidnapped. He had sufFered great hardship and many 
of his men had died during the winter, but he was 
nothing daunted, and returned in 1541, with five ves- 
sels. The winter was passed cheerlessly at Hochelaga. 
The natives were not so cordial as they had been on 
the former occasion, and in May Cartier sailed for 
France, giving up all attempts to make his settlement 
permanent.* 

* See " Pioneers of France in the New World," by Francis Park- 
man. A fascinating book. 



118 SETTLEMENTS BY THE FRENCH. 

Samuel de Champlain was commissioned as General 
Lieutenant of Canada, by Henry IV., and set sail 
from Honfleur, March 15, 1603. In May he dropped 
anchor in the river St. Lawrence, up which he sailed 
as far as Cartier had ascended on the occasion of his 
first voyage, and after examining the shore with care, 
returned to France, where he published a book enti- 
tled Des Sauvages. In 1605, he sailed a second time 
under a new patron, who accompanied him. The 
patron, de Monts, was not of the stuff of which pio- 
neers are made, and finding the northern climate too 
severe, the expedition sailed to the southward. Cham- 
plain explored the coast of the Continent as far as 
Cape Cod, and returned in 1607, the year that 
Jamestown was founded. 

In 1608, he sailed for the third time for the St. 
Lawrence, which he navigated as far as the site of 
Quebec, which he selected as a favorite site for a town, 
and named from an Indian word meaning "narrows." 
{Kepek: it is closed.) Under his wise direction the 
town grew, houses were built, fields were cultivated, 
and the traffic in furs was increased. The year after 
his arrival, war broke out between the Hurons and 
other tribes of Indians, and the Iroquois, and Cham- 
plain determined to take the part of the Hurons, as 
he considered the Iroquois dangerous to his colony. 
He accompanied the Hurons to the lake which now 
bears his name, where he used his gun with such 
effect as to kill two chiefs of the Iroquois and cause 
the remainder to flee. He went to France to spend 
the following winter, but returned for his fourth visit, 
in the spring of 16 10. Before reaching Quebec, he 
gathered a force of sixty Indians of the Montagnez 



VOYAGE OF CHAMPLAIN. 119 

tribe, to go against the Iroquois, whom he encoun- 
tered at the lake as before. His allies were this time 
defeated, and he, being wounded by an arrow, was 
obliged to return to France. 

Champlain made his fifth voyage in 1612, coming as 
lieutenant-governor, and spent several years in explor- 
ing the country, going up the Ottawa River in the 
hope of finding an entrance to Hudson's Bay, which 
had been discovered two years before by Hendrick 
Hudson, on the voyage that cost him his life. He 
fought against the Iroquois and with the Hurons, and, 
in 161 5, invited some Jesuit missionaries to come to 
teach them both Christianity, but he did little to estab- 
lish his own colonies. 

Returning to France, Champlain made his sixth 
voyage, in 1620, coming this time with the title of 
governor, and bringing his family with him. He was 
authorized to fortify his settlements. In 1627, France 
and Spain formed an alliance against England, and 
" it fell out that they themselves were surprised by an 
attack from England." As a part of the general 
movement, Quebec was attacked, and forced to capit- 
ulate, but the treaty of St. Germain, in 1632, restored 
it to France and gave Governor Champlain freedom to 
carry out his plans to establish his colony on a better 
foundation than ever. He did not live long after this, 
but he was able before his death, which occurred in 
1635, t0 found a college in Quebec, to bring over 
more missionaries and to begin the training of the 
young Indians in the French language and the arts of 
civilization. He said that the salvation of one soul is 
of more importance than the foundation of an empire, 
and acted upon the saying. He did what he consid- 



L20 



SETTLEMENTS BY THE FHENCH. 



ered the best for his colonies, without regard to per- 
sonal interest, not endeavoring merely to build up a 
fortune, as too many of the American pioneers had, 
and he is rightly called the Father of French coloniza- 
tion in Canada. In these enterprises of the French, 
we find the origin of subsequent strife between the 
English and French ; for the grants made to the 
explorers of the two nations by their respective sov- 
ereigns, in many cases, covered the same territory. 
Jacques Marquette was sent to Canada as missionary 




A HARRISON HOUSE. 



of the Jesuits, in 1666, but after learning the Indian 
language, he started for the Lake Superior region, in 
1668, where he founded a mission at Sault- Sainte 
Marie, and then built a chapel, in 1671, at Mackinaw. 
Reaching still further towards the " South Sea," he 
determined, in 1669, to explore the valley of the 
Mississipppi, of which he had heard. It was not until 
1673, that he was able to accomplish his desire, when 
he accompanied a party under Louis Jolliet, sent out 
by Frontenac, the governor of Canada, to find the 
mouth of the great river. He went as missionary, and 
Jolliet was himself a member of the order of Jesuits. 



MARQUETTE ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 121 

They followed the Wisconsin River to its junction 
with the Mississippi, and then descended that river to 
a point below the mouth of the Arkansas, whence they 
retraced their steps, passing up the Illinois, instead of 
the Wisconsin, to Green Bay, thinking that they had 
obtained a sufficiently clear notion of the course of 
the stream. They had journeyed some twenty-five 
hundred miles through the wilderness. Jolliet went 
alone to Quebec. Marquette never reached his mis- 
sion alive. He was detained at Green Bay a year by 
illness, and in October, 1674, set out for Kaskaskia, 
where he had promised to preach to the Indians, though 
cold and illness caused him more delay, and he did 
not get to Kaskaskia until April, 1675. Increasing 
feebleness made him desire to return to Mackinaw, 
and he started on the journey, only to die on the banks 
of a river that now bears his name, on the east shore 
of Lake Michigan. 

La Salle is another of the martyrs to the enthusi- 
astic desire to reach China by the western route. A 
native of Rouen, France, he was educated by the 
Jesuits ( having renounced his inheritance before 
entering their seminary), but inflamed by the story of 
the Western World, he resolved to give himself up to 
its exploration. In 1667, he sailed for New France, 
where he engaged in the fur trade, finally obtaining a 
grant which included the exclusive traffic with the 
" Five Nations " of New York. His grant included 
the fort on the site of the town of Kingston, then 
called Frontenac, after Louis, Count de Frontenac, 
one of the governors of Canada. 

As Columbus had been influenced by the stories of 
his predecessors, and by the romances of the olden 



122 



SETTLEMENTS BY THE FRENCH. 



time, so now La Salle was incited to complete the 
work of Jolliet by the stories that were told him of 
the great river. He read of the heroic confidence 
of Columbus in his own plans ; he listened to the 
Indians who told him of the Ohio, and he was roused 
to action. He went to France, and so successfully 
interested the ministers in his schemes, that the 
monopoly of the trade in buffalo skins was given 




LA SALLE ON A VOYAGE. 



him, and in 1678, he returned to Frontenac to prose- 
cute his design. His preparations were not com- 
pleted until late in the summer of 1679, and he then 
set out, only to encounter disaster, and to return 
on foot and almost alone. He left a portion of 
his colony on the banks of the Illinois, sent a party 
to explore the upper Mississippi, and set out on his 
desolate march of fifteen hundred miles through the 
wilderness, in the early spring of 1680. 

It was not until February, 1682, that he was back 



LA SALLE ON THE MIS 8 TS SIP PL 123 

again, and ready to prosecute his explorations. But 
then he went down the Mississippi to the mouth,* 
took possession of the territory in the name of Louis 
XIV., called it after that monarch, Louisiana, and 
slowly retraced his steps to Quebec, where he arrived 
towards the end of 1683. The exploration was made 
at the time when Louis XIV. was indeed "le grand 
monarque." He was striding over Europe with none 
to disturb his progress, and his ministers were inflated 
by the prospect of new dominions in which the nation 
might spread itself abroad. It was confidently ex- 
pected that a new empire would speedily arise on the 
shores of the great river, and a fleet of four vessels 
was prepared with a colony of two hundred and 
eighty persons to people the valley. The grand 
preparation was the precursor of a sad and igno- 
minious end. The voyage was begun August 1, 
1684, and the fleet arrived off the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi in January ; but from a miscalculation, this 
fact was not known until the mouth of the river had 
been passed, and the commander was unwilling to 
return as La Salle desired. La Salle and his colo- 
nists were at first landed on the southern shore of Lou- 
isiana near the Sabine River, but subsequently taken 
to Matagorda Bay, where a place still bears the name 
of La Salle. The store ship had been wrecked on 
entering the bay, and the fleet soon after deserted the 
colony, leaving it — two hundred and fifty persons — 
almost without resources. The heart of the chivalric 
leader did not quail ; he established a fort, and then 

* Jesuit missionaries had discovered the great river eight or nine 
years earlier, and the result of this exploration is still exhibited in 
a map drawn by Louis Jolliet, in 1674, which is preserved in Paris. It 
lays down the lakes, and the course of the Mississippi to the sea. 



124 SETTLEMENTS BY THE FRENCH. 

started out November i, 1685, to find the river. All 
his excursions proved vain, and he determined to 
seek the gold mines of New Mexico. In this he was 
doomed again to disappointment, and in January, 
1687, he started to return. His colony had been 
reduced to thirty-seven, and with sixteen of these he 
set out for the land of the Illinois and Canada. 

On the banks of the Trinity River, Texas, (probably 
in San Jacinto, formerly Polk County), La Salle was 
treacherously shot by one of his men who had long 
shown a mutinous spirit. Thus ended the life of one 
of the most high-minded, daring and far-seeing of 
all the adventurers who gave themselves to the work 
of exploring and peopling the New World. He gave 
to France her claim to the Mississippi Valley and 
Texas ; a claim that was always respected. 

The next French attempt to colonize Louisiana 
was under the command of Lemoine dTberville, who 
entered the Mississippi March 2, 1699, established a 
colony at Biloxi (now in the State of Mississippi), and 
sailed up the Mississippi River as far as Natchez. 
Though he effected little, he is considered the founder 
of Louisiana. 

Do you know of the dreary land, 

If land such region may seem, 
Where 'tis neither sea nor strand, 
Ocean nor good dry land, 

But the nightmare marsh of a dream ? 
Where the mighty river his death-road takes, 
'Mid pools and windings that coil like snakes, 
A hundred leagues of bayous and lakes, 
To die in the great Gulf Stream ? 

— Brcrwndl. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE DUTCH SETTLERS AND LATER COLONISTS. 

THE attempts of the Dutch to colonize the New 
World were but an episode in its history, for the 
Dutch supremacy in New Amsterdam lasted only 
seventy years, and that brief period was interrupted 
by nine years of English rule. The Dutch claim to 
any portion of the country rests on the discoveries 
made by an English navigator, temporarily in the em- 
ploy of the Dutch East India Company, Henry Hud- 
son, referred to by Dutch writers as Hendrick Hud- 
son. This discoverer was unknown until 1607, when he 
was first employed by a company of London mer- 
chants to search for the northwest passage to the 
lands of the Grand Khan, which Columbus also had 
sought. He made unsuccessful voyages, in 1607 
and 1608, and the merchants did not engage his ser- 
vices again. He therefore made his third voyage 
under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company, 
intending to find China by the northeast passage which 
Sebastian Cabot had sought in 1553, about half a cen- 
tury before. The climate proving too severe for Hud- 
son's men, he crossed the Atlantic to the coast of 
Maine, which he explored, and on the second of Sep- 
tember, discovered the mouth of the river that has 
since borne his name. 

125 



126 



THE DUTCH SETTLERS. 





KNTEUINU THE IIAKBOR OF NEW YORK IN MODERN TIME- 



Flow fair beside the Palisades, flow. Hudson, fair and free, 
By proud Manhattan's shore of ships and green Hoboken's tree ; 
So fair yon haven clasped its isles, in such a sunset gleam, 
When Hendrick and his sea-worn tars first sounded up the stream, 
And climbed this rocky palisade, and, resting on its brow. 
Passed round the can and gazed awhile on shore and wave below; 
And Hendrick drank with hearty cheer, and loudly then cried he : 
" 'Tis a good land to fall in with, men, and a pleasant land to see ! " 



Hudson sailed up the river with a hope of finding 
the passage to China, and when he had arrived at the 
head of navigation, went some miles farther in a small 
boat. He afterwards explored Delaware Bay, and 
returned to Holland. In 1610, he set out on his 
fourth voyage. He found the strait and bay that 
bear his name, and was preparing to winter, when his 
seamen mutinied and abandoned him in an open boat. 
He was not heard from. Like La Salle and De Soto, 
Hudson gave up his life in the steady pursuit of dar- 
ing schemes of discovery. 



MANHATTAN ISLAND I'lfRCHASED. 127 

Very little was done by the Dutch in the way of 
colonization for some years. In 1610, a few traders 
had operated on the river, and in 161 3, four small 
houses were erected on Manhattan Island. The 
Dutch West India Company was chartered in 1621, 
and in 1624, or thereabout, entered into possession. 

The first colony that was actually established was 
composed of Walloons, Protestant refugees, who 
sought an asylum in the New World. They were 
aided by the West India Company, and established 
themselves on the western shore of Long Island, in 
1623-24, naming their settlement Walloon Bay. In 
1623, a fort was built where Albany now stands and 
another on the Delaware. 

In 1623, Manhattan Island was bought of the 
Indians for twenty-four dollars, and under the direc- 
tion of Peter Minuit, the first Dutch Governor, small 
settlements were begun on Staten Island, Long Island 
and Manhattan Island. In 1629, more extensive 
movements were made. The company granted large 
tracts to persons called Patroous, who were endowed 
with feudal rights. One of these was Kiliaen van 
Rensselaer, whose territory was twenty-four miles by 
forty-eight in extent, comprising the territory of sev- 
eral counties around Albany. Other Patroons were 
Samuel Godyn, Samuel Blomaert, and Michael Pauw, 
who like van Rensselaer, were directors of the Am- 
sterdam chamber. The two first mentioned began a 
settlement in Delaware, in 1631. 

Before the capitulation of New Amsterdam to the 
English under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls, 
acting for the Duke of York, afterwards James II., 
there were four Dutch Governors, the last of whom 



128 



THE BUTCH SETTLERS. 



was the renowned Peter Stuyvesant. The territory 
was all the time claimed by England, and there were 
troubles between the colonists representing the two 
nations ; especially was this true in the case of the 
settlers in Connecticut. The Dutch traders penetrated 
both Connecticut and Massachusetts, and in 1627 
the Governor of New Amsterdam was asked by Gov- 
ernor Bradford of Plymouth to restrain his people from 
trading in the neighborhood of the English. The 



■if* fortnieutv v4mfberJatfr ejo cUMadiatmt*. ot*"*- a *'3sO<eO»>».<"^>. 




NEW AMSTERDAM. 



boundary question was not settled until 1650, when 
one half of Long Island was conceded to the English, 
and on the mainland the line between Connecticut and 
New York was drawn about where it now exists. 

Stuyvesant ruled New Amsterdam with rigor and 
arrogance, but he was the greatest of the Dutch 
governors. It was in 1652, during his time, that New 
Amsterdam received its charter, and became the 



THE FIRST AMERICAN CITY. 129 

first city organized in the United States. The fashion 
of regulating" religion was not confined to New 
England, but in New Amsterdam, also, Lutherans were 
fined and imprisoned, Baptists were fined and ban- 
ished, and Quakers were tortured. It is to the credit 
of the powers at home that when they heard of the 
actions of Stuyvesant in this respect, they censured 
him and restrained him from further oppression of 
dissenters. The sufferings in the Netherlands from 
the Spaniards who tried to force Romanism upon 
them may have had its effect in this case, though it is 
not always true that those who have suffered in this 
way are ready to pity other sufferers who do not agree 
with them. 

Meantime a settlement was planned with more gen- 
erous aims than any yet formed. Gustavus Adolphus 
of Sweden, before his premature death on the field of 
Lutzen, had been filled with grand thoughts regarding 
the opening for the progress of Protestantism presented 
in America. He looked upon the settlement that was 
to be, as the brightest jewel of his kingdom, and his 
minister, Axel, Count Oxenstierna, founded Fort Chris- 
tina (near Wilmington, Delaware) in 1638. The 
colony was unfortunate in having for its director, 
Peter Minuit, who had been sent away from New 
Amsterdam in 1632, and in being composed largely of 
convicts from the prisons of Sweden and "Finland. It 
was also immediately involved in difficulties with the 
Dutch, who claimed the territory on which it was sit- 
uated. The colony was increased from time to time, 
but its life was not robust, and in 1655, it succumbed 
to the superior force of Stuyvesant, and many of the 
settlers returned to Europe. The city of Amsterdam 



130 THE DUTCH SETTLERS. 

purchased the new conquest, thus relieving the West 
India Company of an embarrassment of riches, and 
the purchase was increased in 1663, until it embraced 
the territory of the present States of New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania and Delaware. New Sweden now 
became New Amstel. 

The Dutch colony at Manhattan did not contain the 
principle of life. It was simply a mercantile venture. 
There was no public spirit, none of the incentives to 
growth which made New England strong. Its gov- 
ernment was aristocratic, its governors oppressive or 
autocratic. It had schools, but they were not esteemed 
so vital to the existence of the public weal as they 
were in Massachusetts and Plymouth, or Connecticut. 
The first clergyman arrived in New Amsterdam in 
1628, but there were near eighty in New England in 
1642, and probably fifty in 1628. In 1686, New York 
contained a population of only some six or seven 
thousand, while New England had one hundred and 
twenty thousand, and after the Revolutionary War, the 
population of New England was three times as large 
as that of New York. This great disparity was due 
to the different sentiments which moved the colonists 
of the two regions. 

The want of public spirit in the Dutch is shown in 
the reluctance with which they protected their own set- 
tlers, and in the readiness with which they permitted 
the city to be resigned to the English in 1664. War 
broke out between England and Holland in 1672, and 
New York, as New Amsterdam had been named by 
the English, was retaken by the Dutch in 1673, but 
was restored to England in 1674, at the peace, and 
the Dutch have had no claim to any territory in the 



THE JERSEY CHANTS. 



131 



limits of the United Stales since.* The discomfited 
Stuyvesant after the surrender went to Holland to 
report the loss of the colony, but subsequently returned 
to New York, where he ended his days on his farm, 
from which the avenue called the Bowery ( Bouwerij ) 
was named. 

Before the Duke of York had actually taken pos- 




NEW YORK IN 1720. 

session of the New Netherlands, he granted the terri- 
tory from the Hudson to the Delaware to two favorites, 
Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, who founded 

* The Dutch governors of New Amsterdam were, Peter Minuit, from 
1624 to 1632 ; Wouter Van Twiller, 1633-1637 ; William Kieft, 1637- 
1647 ; Peter Stuyvesant, 1647-1664. The English then had possession, 
and Richard Nicolls followed from 1664 to 1667 ; Francis Lovelace, 
from 1667 to 1673. The Dutch administration was then renewed, and 
Sir Anthony Colve governed from 1673 t0 T ^74 ; after which Edmund 
Andros began the line of colonial governors which ended with Willian 
Tryon, in 1777. George Clinton was the first governor after the State 
organization had been effected. 



132 THE DUTCH SETTLERS. 

Elizabethtown, Newark, Middletown and Shrewsbury. 
The territory received its name from the island of 
Jersey, which Carteret as governor, had defended 
from Cromwell's attack in 1649. The territory had 
been settled upon, however, at an earlier date, for it is 
said that a colony had been planted at Bergen before 
1620, and the same year that the Swedes settled on 
the Delaware, the New Haven colony made purchases, 
though perhaps no actual settlements. When the 
Dutch recaptured New York, they took New Jersey 
also, which returned to its owners on the peace of 1674. 

In 1673 Berkeley had sold his interest to two Quak- 
ers ( who established a settlement at Salem, near 
the Delaware ), and the territory was divided into 
East Jersey and West Jersey. Carteret and his heirs 
controlled East Jersey, and the Quakers, West Jersey. 
The entire territory was, in 1682, transferred to Wil- 
liam Penn and associates. The first legislature of the 
State was held in 1668, and established very stringent 
laws, making death the penalty for some twelve 
different offences. 

Maryland received its name from Queen Henrietta 
Maria, wife of Charles L, who obtained, June 20, 1632, 
for Cecilius Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore, a charter 
granting him more extensive powers than the Crown 
had ever bestowed upon a proprietor in America.* 

* George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, had held extensive grants 
in Newfoundland and Ireland, but, having in 1624, become a Romanist, 
he had been obliged to abstain from engaging in public affairs, -and the 
French had taken possession of his settlement in Newfoundland, upon 
which he had expended large sums. It was in compensation for his 
losses that the grant of Maryland was made ; but Baltimore died April 
15, 1632, before the grant was legalized, and the patent was issued in 
the name of his son. 






MARYLAND SETTLED. 13o 

Under this charter, in 1634, Leonard Calvert, 
brother of Lord Baltimore, took out a colony of two 
hundred persons, mostly Roman Catholics of good 
family. The charter made no mention of the religion 
to be established, and the proprietor left that matter 
open, to be settled by the general laws of England ; 
settlers of all creeds were wanted and were welcomed. 
This did not hinder the Virginia colonists from look- 
ing upon their new neighbors as "idolatrous papists," 
but, on the other hand, it did not interfere with the 
rapid growth of the colony. 

An earlier settlement had been made in 1631, by 
William Clayborne, under the authority of the Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, who refused to acknowledge the 
new government, and though he was at length ex- 
pelled, he gave much trouble to Calvert. In 1642 a 
company of Puritans who had been banished from 
Virginia for non-conformity, gave the colonists more 
trouble, and Clayborne uniting with them, forced 
Calvert to flee into Virginia. In 1646, however, he 
returned and gained possession of the government. 
The earnest strife between the King and the Commons 
at home led the settlers of Maryland to reflect on the 
relations of government to the religion of its people, 
and in 1649, the third legislature enacted a statute to 
the effect that "whereas the enforcing of the con- 
science in matters of religion hath frequently fallen 
out to be of dangerous consequence in those common- 
wealths where it has been practised, and for the more 
quiet and peaceable government of this province, and 
the better to preserve mutual love and amity among 
the inhabitants, no person within this province, pro- 
fessing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be in any ways 



134 THE BUTCH SETTLERS. 

troubled, molested, or discountenanced, for his or her 
religion, or in the free exercise thereof." This is 
remarkable as the act of men at a time when no 
nations of the world permitted entire freedom of con- 
science. It redounded to the advantage of the colony, 
which rapidly increased, having no enemies but those 
without its borders. 

The settlement of Puritans was at Annapolis, then 
called Providence. It received considerable additions 
to its numbers, and extensive territory was granted it, 
but this did not suffice. They strove to control 
public affairs, and, on the establishment of the com- 
monwealth at home, demanded that it should be recog- 
nized in Maryland. The Puritan party soon found 
itself in the majority, and in a few years a war 
of religion began, in which the Roman Catholics were 
defeated ; and it was not till 1658, that Lord Baltimore 
regained his rights, when toleration was restored and 
the colony began to thrive again. With no consider- 
able towns, there was a population of twelve thousand 
in the colony. 

Until 1729, the territory now known as North and 
South Carolina, was called Carolina. The first English 
colony on the continent was established at Roanoake, 
in 1585, by Sir Walter Raleigh. A party of Puritans 
from Massachusetts settled at the mouth of the Cape 
Fear River in 1660, and there were other attempts at 
colonization in early days ; but it was not until 1663 
that a permanent colony was established. In 1662, 
Charles II., ignoring all other claims to the territory, 
formed the province of Carolina, eventually stretch- 
ing from Florida to Virginia, and from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific Ocean, which he granted to eight noble- 



THE CAROLINAS. 135 

men,* who were styled "The Lord's Proprietors of 
the Province of Carolina." 

The new company was granted almost as great 
powers as had been given to Calvert, and little was 
asked in return except allegiance to the Crown. The 
future freemen of the colony were to give their con- 
sent to legislation, but otherwise, that too was in the 
power of the grantees. No colony in America started 
out with such grand plans as this. The territory was 
immense ; the charter provided for officers with high- 
sounding titles, and for a hereditary nobility hedged 
in in such a way that no others than those of the privi- 
leged class could ever enter it, a "chamberlain's court," 
with control of all fashions, habits, badges, games and 
sports, a grand Council of Appeal, and provision for 
freedom of conscience, though the Church of England 
was established as "the only true and orthodox" 
religion. This complicated and singular constitution 
was framed by John Locke, the philosopher. The 
admirers of the great Shaftesbury fondly thought that 
it would endure forever, and yet before it actually 
reached the colonists, they had met in legislative 
assembly and established a simple code of laws that 
became the actual statutes of the Carolinas ; were con- 
firmed by the proprietors, and re-enacted in 171 5. 

The colonists who came over at first were not of 
the classes adapted to build up a pioneer settlement. 
The settlements did not thrive ; and though parties 
came from New England, New York, Scotland, Ire- 

* These proprietors were the Duke of Albemarle (General Monk), 
the historian Clarendon, the Earl of Craven, Lord John Berkeley, 
Anthony Ashley Cooper, Baron Ashley (from 1672, Earl of Shafts- 
bury), Sir George Carteret, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berke- 
ley, of Virginia, younger brother of Lord Berkeley. 



136 THE BUTCH SETTLERS. 

land, and France, besides the Mother Country, there 
were constant troubles and little progress. Few 
towns were founded, but the people lived on planta- 
tions somewhat remote from each other. Carolina was 
a harbor for the persecuted. The first minister arrived 
in 1672. He was a Friend, and was well received. 
In the autumn of the same year George Fox, the 
founder of the Friends, arrived and was welcomed to 
a safe asylum. He became guest of the Governor, and 
expounded to him as well as to others, the doctrines of 
his sect. He departed as he had come, without moles- 
tation. The settlers were of various sorts. There 
were poor cavaliers, dissenters from England, Dutch 
from the New Netherlands, Presbyterians from Scot- 
land, Huguenots from France, sent from their homes 
by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, some Irish, 
and many from Virginia, who fled from justice. 

William Penn, son of Sir William Penn, the English 
Admiral in the time of Charles II., bought the propri- 
etary rights in the colonies of the Friends in the Jer- 
seys, in 1682, and having, in 1681, received from the 
crown a patent for the territory now forming the State 
of Pennsylvania,* he drew up a liberal scheme of 
government, and prepared to embark with a colony. 
Being of Welsh family, Penn intended to call the new 
State New Wales, but King Charles insisted that it 
should be named Pennsylvania. No one was to be 
forced to attend or support any religious service what- 
ever, and all who acknowledged one eternal God were 

* In payment of a debt of sixteen thousand pounds due to his father. 
The land granted is described in the charter, now in existence at Har- 
risburg, as the " tract of land in America lying north of Maryland, on 
the east bounded with Delaware River, on the west limited as Mary- 
land, and northward to extend as far as plantable." 







THE NATURAL BRIDGE, VIRGINIA 



WILLIAM PtiNN ARRIVES. 139 

to be allowed freedom of conscience, the privileges 
being greater than those offered by the proprietors 
of Carolina, who did not propose to tolerate Jews. 

There had been other attempts at settlement in 
Pennsylvania before this. In 1643, a Swedish colony 
was formed at Tinicmn Island, under John Printz, and 
Chester (then Uplandt) was founded in 1648. Many 
emigrants were immediately attracted to Pennsylvania. 
A German company under Franz Pastorius, bought 
fifteen thousand acres, and three vessels came over 
under the direction of William Markham, a cousin of 
Penn, in 1681. The next year Penn himself arrived 
on the ship We/come, with one hundred emigrants, 
mostly Friends. He landed at Newcastle (Delaware), 
was warmly received, and in November visited the site 
of Philadelphia, where a house was already partially 
completed. Here he laid out squares, streets, and 
avenues, some of which still retain the names he gave 
them ; the city itself bearing a name that he fixed 
upon it with the hope of establishing there a feeling 
of brotherly love. 

On the fourteenth of October, 1682, Penn met the 
Indians of the Lenni Lenape nation, under an old elm 
at Kensington (then Shackamaxon), to confirm a treaty 
which had been made with them, and so firmly was it 
established, and so well kept, that the savages respected 
its terms for sixty years, and there was no war with 
the Indians before the Revolution.* 

The next year a school was begun. The first yearly 

* Perm's grant covered the tracts upon which the Swedish settle- 
ments had been established for more than a generation, and conflicting 
claims arose which were not all adjusted with the same equity that 
Penn has been represented as having practised in dealing with the 
Indians. 



140 THE BUTCH SETTLERS. 

meeting of the Friends was held in Philadelphia ; and 
a printing-press was set up in 1685. The grants of 
territory in America had always been made with little 
care in the establishment of boundary lines, and most 
of the colonies became involved in disputes regarding 
them. Pennsylvania was no exception, and in 1684 
Perm was obliged to go to England to assert his right 
to the territory on the west side of the Delaware from 
Philadelphia to Cape Henlopen, which was claimed by 
Lord Baltimore as a part of Maryland. Penn had 
already contested the claim of the Dutch to this strip, 
and he was successful now. He left behind him 
a prosperous colony of seven thousand people. 

While in England, he succeeded in obtaining relief 
for the Friends who had suffered great persecutions, 
twelve hundred of whom were released from prison by 
King James. He also was influential in obtaining 
the publication of a proclamation removing religious 
penalties and declaring liberty of conscience to all. 
His enemies represented that he was a Papist in dis- 
guise, while James was on the throne, and afterwards 
caused his arrest on a charge of conspiracy in the 
latter king's favor ; but he was honorably acqu^ted. 
though he was for a time deprived of his office as gov- 
ernor. In 1694, his office was restored to him, and 
he went to Pennsylvania the second time, in 1699. 
Hearing that a project was entertained of bringing 
all proprietary governments under the crown, Penn 
determined to return to England, but before leaving, 
he gave Philadelphia a city charter, October 25, 1701. 

Penn had little satisfaction in his American prop- 
erty after his return, and in 171 2, made a bargain to 
transfer his rights to the crown for twelve thousand 



OGLETHORPE IN GEORGIA. 141 

pounds. He was hindered from carrying out the bar- 
gain by apoplectic strokes, and though he lived six 
years longer, he was always afflicted with mental 
weakness, and at times was unable to move. His 
character has been attacked by Macaulay and others, 
but it is doubtful if the accusations against him are 
true. Though Macaulay persisted in them, they seem 
to have been disproved. 

As late as 1733, the extensive territory now known 
as Georgia, was a wilderness. The proprietors of 
Carolina had in 1729 given up their claims to the 
Crown, and in 1732, the country between the Savan- 
nah and the Altamaha rivers, and westward to the 
Pacific, was granted, "in trust for the poor," to 
twenty-one " trustees, for founding the colony of Geor- 
gia," the most distinguished of them being James 
Edward Oglethorpe/ the philanthropist, who became 
Governor of the colony that was planted. The motto 
on the seal chosen by the trustees was Non sibi, sed 
aliis (not for himself, but for others), and it well 
betokened the intentions of the benevolent trustees, 
who wished to found a colony which should be an 
asylum for the destitute and forlorn. In November, 
1732, Oglethorpe accompanied a party of one hun- 
dred and twenty persons to the New World. He 
landed at Charleston, in January, 1733, and selected 
the site of Savannah for the plantation. 

Kindly relations were established with the Indians ; 
lands were bought of them, and the city was laid out 
with regularity, considerable portions being reserved 
as public squares. The sympathies of the charitable 
at home were readily given to the enterprise. The 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 



142 THE DUTCH SETTLERS. 

Parts interested itself in Georgia, and aided some per- 
secuted Protestants to go thither from Salzburg (Aust- 
ria), giving them free passage, lands, provisions for an 
entire season, and religious freedom. Their settle- 
ment was made on Ebenezer River (Effingham 
County), which was then named. The same year 
Augusta was laid out, and soon became a place of 
important trade with the Indians. 

Georgia was established as a refuge for the distressed, 
and it was the only colony in which negro slavery 
was forbidden. Oglethorpe esteemed slavery as 
against the fundamental law of England. In 1744, 
Oglethorpe returned to England, where he gained 
much favor for his colony, and was able to bring back 
with him, in 1736, a company of three hundred emi- 
grants, among whom were John and Charles Wesley, 
and some Moravians, and the next year, George 
Whitefield began his American career by visiting- 
Georgia, where he established an Orphan House 
Presbyterian Scotchmen came also, and the colony 
prospered. The prosperity did not continue, however. 
When war broke out between Spain and Eng- 
land, in 1739, Oglethorpe was made commander 
of the troops of South Carolina and Georgia, and 
marched with a thousand men and some Indian allies 
to invade Florida. The expedition was unsuccessful. 
In 1742 the Spaniards retaliated, and appeared at the 
mouth of the Altamaha with a fleet of thirty-six ships 
and three thousand men. They took several forts, 
but were, by a ruse of Oglethorpe, alarmed, and re- 
turned to Florida. Other sources of disquiet remained. 
The proprietors were not as capable as they were 
benevolent. They established feudal entails, and made 



GEORGIA A ROYAL PROVINCE. 



143 



laws in London that were odious to those on the soil, 
and industry lost heart. In 1751 the trustees deter- 
mined to surrender their charter to the Crown, and in 
1754, the first royal governor entered upon office. 
The colony then had the same privileges as to lands, 
trade and negro slaves, that were enjoyed by the other 
colonies. 

Rude though our life, it suits our spirit, 
And new-born States in future years 

Shall own us founders of a nation, 
And bless the hardy pioneers. 




AN OLD-TIME HOME. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 



WE are apt, 
when we 
think, of the 
lives of our fore- 
fathers in the 
colonial period, to 
compare them 
with life at our 
o w n time ; but 
we should rather 
strive to realize 
the state of soci- 
ety that they left 
when they came 
over seas. It would be a sacrifice for most persons, 
at this period, to go back to the style of living of 
the time of Elizabeth, and it was but four years after 
her death that the settlement was made at Jamestown. 
Doubtless the early pioneers enjoyed their immunity 
from many of the discomforts of home life. The pau- 
per class and the rogues were very numerous in Eng- 
land at that time, and even in London one's purse was 
scarcely safe, if life was, so little were the rogues 
awed by the constant executions for theft. There 

144 




THE INGLESIDK. 



LUXURY AND PUTVATION. 



145 




T11K KAIJLV AMEJUCAN WOMAN AT WOEK 



was a certain sort of luxury among the rich classes, it 
is true, but there was a deep gulf between them and 
those below them, while even the most favored of 
fortune did not enjoy a tithe of the conveniences that 
make life in our day so rich in opportunities, and 



146 COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

social enjoyment so much less servile and more 
rational. The colonists lost much by their voluntary 
expatriation, but we get an erroneous appreciation of 
their privations when we compare their condition 
with our own. Even in the houses of many who were 
in good circumstances, there were no chimneys in the 
seventeenth century. Glass was in use for windows, 
but it was a luxury that all could not indulge in ; and 
when our early settlers brought over oiled paper to be 
used instead, they probably did not think they were 
suffering on account of their removal to a new country. 
Roads were poor here, and most of the travel at first, 
was by bridle paths ; but roads were wretched in Eng- 
land, also, and long after the settlement at Plymouth, 
it was dangerous to travel in the streets of London in 
a coach. Coaches themselves were luxuries in the 
time of Elizabeth, and they were lumbering and uneasy. 
There were no steel springs to them, and the straps 
that served our fathers instead, were new devices long- 
after our early settlements had been made. Houses 
in England were not well carpeted ; the rushes which 
in the time of Henry VIII. served to cover the floors 
and to hide the filth that was allowed to accumulate 
on them, had not entirely fallen into disuse. Queen 
Elizabeth was. the first sovereign who is known to 
have owned a fork, and it is not certain that she used 
it on ordinary occasions. In 1608, a traveller returned 
from Italy, spoke of the use of forks in that country as 
one of the fashions that he intended to imitate. The 
conveniences for the housekeeper, in England, in the 
seventeenth century, were few and rude, and removal 
to America did not add very largely to the worry of 
woman's work. 



TOLERATION NOT UNDERSTOOD. U7 

All the colonists professed to come to the New World 
to spread the Gospel. So said the Spaniard when he 
settled in the land of flowers. So the Frenchman 
declared as he carried his priests to Quebec, and 
sent them as pioneers through the valley of the great 
river. So said the English at Jamestown, at Plym- 
outh, at Philadelphia, and so said the Huguenots in 
South Carolina, and the Dutch at New Amsterdam. 
Each colony had, however, its own character. The 
Spaniards sought wealth and adventure in Florida, and 
the French trader had the same ends in view. The 
phlegmatic Dutchman was a trader. He cared little 
to exert himself. He did not wish for strife. The 
Covenanters of Scotland, like the Huguenots of 
France, and the Quakers and Puritans of England, 
came for rest and the privilege of worshipping God 
after the dictates of their consciences. They were 
willing to endure hardness to obtain this privilege. 

The nature of toleration was not fully understood 
by any of the settlers, but there was a great difference 
in the treatment of religion in the different parts.* 
The Plymouth colonists were Separatists. They had 
come out from the Church of England. The Boston 
colony was composed of Puritans members of the 
Church of England who were protesting against the 
practices and doctrines in it which they considered erro- 

*Rev. Thomas Shepard, of Cambridge, wrote in the "Election 
Sermon " of 1672, that " 'tis Satan's policy to plead for an indefinite and 
boundless toleration," and Increase Mather, in 1681, argued that, hav- 
ing come to New England to find opportunity for the practice of their 
principles, the colonists who first came had a right to send any who inter- 
fered with them "to the place from whence they came." lie forgot 
that the first Puritan settlers of Boston found the ground preoccupied 
by the Rev. William Blackstone, of the Church of England, 



148 COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

neous, and they were generally of a higher social rank 
before emigration. There was little difference between 
these colonies regarding the treatment of those who 
did not agree with them. 

The settlers in New Hampshire were more liberal ; 
in fact, they did not consider themselves founders of 
a religious community, but fishermen, and they will- 
ingly permitted the Rev. John Wheelwright, the 
brother, or brother-in-law, of Mrs. Hutchinson, to 
come among them, when she had been banished from 
Boston. The people of Connecticut, though emi- 
nently religious, and considering the Bible the only 
source of law, and permitting church-members only to 
enjoy the suffrage (like Massachusetts and Plymouth), 
did not wage war with equal force upon delinquents.* 
In Rhode Island there was actual freedom of con- 
science ; Jews, Papists, Infidels, were all freely ad- 
mitted and equally protected by the laws. New 
York was quite tolerant,! but as late as 1700, 
Roman Catholic priests were forbidden to enter 
the colony, under penalty of hanging. Maryland was 
liberal, but not to infidels, nor those who denied the 
Trinity. The latter were threatened with death, while 
all who denied the Virgin, the Apostles or the Evan- 
gelists were condemned to fines, imprisonment, whip- 
ping and banishment. 

* The Connecticut colonists appear to have enjoyed more even and 
sunny happiness than those of any other part of the country. There 
was no persecuting spirit there, the minister of Hartford saying to 
Roger Williams, that in his opinion God had provided the Western 
World as a " refuge and receptacle for all sorts of consciences." 

t Enacting, in 1683, that " no person professing faith in God by 
Jesus Christ, shall at any time be any ways disquieted or questioned for 
any difference of opinion." 



BAPTISTS ANl) QUAKE US. 151 

In Virginia, after the restoration in 1662, very 
severe laws were enacted against Quakers, Baptists, 
(stigmatized as Anabaptists), and Puritans, the religion 
of the Church of England being established by law. 
Even twenty years before, Puritan ministers from Bos- 
ton and New Haven were warned to " depart out of 
the colony with all conveniency," and more were 
banished in 1649. Simply entertaining a Quaker 
rendered one liable to imprisonment. 

In Pennsylvania, all Christians and Jews were tol- 
erated, and in Carolina there was toleration of a cer- 
tain sort which did not include Jews, and declared the 
Church of England the only true and orthodox church. 
The settlement of Georgia was late enough to permit 
the framers of the laws to take advantage of the expe- 
rience of older colonies and grant greater freedom of 
conscience. 

The most marked intolerance was found in the 
Massachusetts colony, the Baptists and Quakers 
being in turn the victims.* We have already seen 
how Williams was banished in 1636, thirty-six years 
before Baptists were permitted to hold their meetings 
without molestation in Boston, and it was not until 
after 1680, that all proceedings against them were 
discontinued. In that year the General Court forbade 
them to assemble in their meeting-house, but the 
prohibition seems to have been merely a matter of 
form. " No doubt the New England fathers thought 
with the tolerant Jeremy Taylor, that Anabaptism 

* It is a somewhat curious fact, that during the lives of the first gen- 
eration of settlers upon the soil of Massachusetts, not a single year 
passed by, in which they did not bring the civil power to bear upon a 
strange succession of persons obnoxious for a religious tenet. Ellis's 
"Life of Anne Hutchinson," page 172 



152 COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

was 'as much to be rooted out as anything that is the 
greatest pest and nuisance to the public interest.' "* 
They felt that the sect was adverse to the public 
interests of the colony as well as a spreader of false 
doctrines. During this period the " learned, reverend 
and judicious " Dunster, President of Harvard College, 
was tried, convicted, and compelled to resign his office, 
for being a Baptist, and was not paid the balance of 
his account as president. 

More severe were the steps taken against the people 
called Quakers, and for four years they were perse- 
cuted with great austerity. The sect had arisen in 
England in 1647, and its persecutions lasted there 
from 1656 to 1685. It was in the spring of 1656, that 
the General Court of Massachusetts appointed a 
" public day of humiliation," to seek the face of God 
on behalf of England, distressed by the abounding of 
errors, especially those of the Ranters, or Quakers. 
In July, two months later, Boston was invaded by two 
women, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, f members of 
the body so much feared. They were ordered to jail, 
their books were burned by the public executioner, 
and the master of the vessel in which they came, was 
obliged to give bonds to take them away again. The 
women were put in the Boston jail, their cell was 
boarded up, that they might not communicate with the 
people, they were denied writing materials, and one 
Nicholas Upshall, who protested against such treat- 
ment, and gave the jailer privily, money for food for 
the women, was fined, and eventually banished to 

* Palfrey's " History of New England, volume iii., page 92. 
t The coming of these women is referred to in Longfellow's " New 
England Tragedies." — " John Endicott," act. 1, sc. 2. 



MARY DYER EXECUTED. 153 

Rhode Island. In August the shipmaster carried 
them away, but the next day another vessel arrived, 
bringing five men and four women of the same persua- 
sion. After similar proceedings as had occurred in 
the first case, these were safely shipped to England 
again. In order to provide for future emergencies, a 
law was passed laying a fine of five hundred pounds 
on any shipmaster who should bring Quakers to the 
colony, threatening the Quakers themselves with 
imprisonment, and severe whipping, and levying a 
fine of five pounds on every one who should import 
their books, or writings, concerning their "devilish 
opinions." This did not keep back the tide of emi- 
gration. Two more women arrived in 1657, Anne 
Burden and Mary Dyer, the latter, wife of the secre- 
tary of Rhode Island, both having been banished 
twenty years previously for holding with Anne 
Hutchinson. Anne Burden had come to collect some 
debts due to her deceased husband, but no mercy was 
shown her. After a tedious imprisonment she was 
shipped penniless to England. Mary Dyer was deliv- 
ered to her husband, who took her to Rhode Island, 
whence she returned, however, in 1659, in time to 
come under condemnation of a new law which pre- 
scribed death as the penalty for daring to return. 
Though two men were hanged on the Common in 
Boston, Mary Dyer, after she had stood with the 
halter about her neck, was set free, to go again to 
Rhode Island. The next spring she was "moved" 
to go to Boston to bear witness against the law. She 
was condemned to die, and her execution occurred on 
June 1st, 1660, her body hanging, as one of her judges 
said, " as a flag for others to take example by." 



154 COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

The inoffensive people were goaded to the most 
extraordinary acts. Men and women cried through 
the streets that the Lord was coming with the sword. 
One woman walked through Boston in a gown of 
sackcloth, another exhibited herself with her face 
covered with grease and lampblack, one walked 
through Salem naked,, "as a sign," another went 
naked * amongst the People of Newbury, for the 
like reason. During the persecution thirty Quakers 
were scourged, fined or imprisoned, several were 
hung, and some were branded in the hand with the 
letter H, for heretic. The end approached in 1661, 
when there came from England a royal order to Gov- 
ernor Endicott, directing him to proceed no further 
against his Quaker prisoners, but to send them to 
England for trial. The order was sent by the hands 
of Samuel Shattuck, a Quaker, who had been ban- 
ished upon pain of death. In response to it, the Gov- 
ernor directed that all the Quakers then in custody 
should be discharged. The laws were modified, but 
it was only for a time. When the feeling of the people 
had subsided, men were again whipped at the cart's 
tail from town to town, and banished, and even women 
were treated in the same shameful manner. The 
persecutions did not entirely cease for some years, 
when the king demanded that no one should be hin- 

*Mr Whittier says that these persons, having been accustomed to 
seeing women punished in a condition of nakedness, and examined for 
" marks of the devil," had less compunction in thus presenting them- 
selves in public than they otherwise would have had. Mary Fisher 
and Ann Austin had been thus stripped and examined on their 
arrival, by orders of Deputy-Governor Bellingham. Governor Endi- 
cott, on his return, thought they had been treated too leniently, 
declaring that he would have had them whipped. 



THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 155 

dered from exercising his religion in the New World 
more than in the Old, and that men of civil lives 
ought to be permitted to "worship God in the way 
they think best." 

One reason for the carefulness of the people of 
Massachusetts in punishing " heresies," is found in 
the fear that their charter might be taken from them, 
and the principles of their ecclesiastical polity, which 
they were very jealous of, might be brought into dis- 
credit by reports carried to England. Ward, "the 
simple cobbler of Agawam," writing in 1647, says, 
" We have been reputed a colluvies of wild Opinionists, 
swarmed into a remote wilderness to find elbow-room 
for our fanatic doctrines and practices. I trust our 
diligence past, and constant sedulity against such 
persons and courses, will plead better things for us. 
I dare take upon me to be the herald of New 
England so far as to proclaim to the world, in the 
name of our colony, that all Familists, Antinomians, 
Anabaptists and other enthusiasts, shall have free 
liberty to keep away from us, and such as will come, 
to be gone as fast as they can — the sooner the 
better." 

The witchcraft delusion was everywhere a frightful 
scourge and led good men to practise the most atro- 
cious cruelties, though its duration in America was 
not so long as that of the persecutions of the Quakers. 
The belief in witchcraft was brought to America by our 
forefathers. Crabbed old women had in England long 
been condemned to the stake or the gallows for no 
reason but their repulsive appearance or disagreeable 
manners. In 15 15, five hundred persons were put to 
death in the short space of three months. And fifty 



156 COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

years later the English Parliament passed a law 
against witchcraft, under which many were executed. 
In 1689, Cotton Mather, "the literary behemoth" 
of the period, then twenty-six years of age, published 
a volume entitled Memorable Providences Relating 
to Witchcraft, in which he collected the particulars 
of the cases which had occurred in the colonies, and 
the book was a means of fixing in the minds of the 
people a belief in witchcraft, and of preparing for the 
terrible scenes that were to follow. The first symp- 
tom of the coming storm was evident in Boston, when 
Mistress Margaret Jones, a practitioner of medicine, 
was suspected of diabolical visitations, was tried and 
executed June 15th, 1648. Mather was one of the 
ministers who united in holding a day of fasting and 
prayer, and he afterwards made careful investigations 
into the matter, by taking one of the daughters of the 
woman into his family. In his Magnalia he gives 
the results of this investigation. The girl was lively, 
and apparently esteemed the opportunity a good one 
to play upon the remarkable peculiarities of her pom- 
pous examiner. Mather relates that he found the 
devils familiar with the Latin, Greek and Hebrew 
tongues, but not with those of America ; that the Irish 
girl could read a jest book, but could not bear even to 
hear the " Assembly's Catechism." He entertained 
his congregation with a sermon on this subject, which 
was approved by Richard Baxter, who reprinted in 
London, the narrative of the experiments referred to, 
which appeared there in 1691. The town of Salem 
was destined to be the scene of tragedy. The first case 
of witchcraft there occurred in 1692, and the rage 
against witches continued until twenty victims had 



GILES COREY'S EXECUTION. 



157 



been sacrificed, among them being a clergyman, and 
one Giles Corey who was pressed to death. 

Oh, sight most horrible ! In a land like this, 
Spangled with churches evangelical, 
Inwrapped in our salvations, must we seek 
In mouldering statute-books of English courts 
vSome old forgotten law to do such deeds ? 

So Mather is made to speak in Longfellow's dra- 
matic account of the execution of Corey, but he does 




not appear in history as having regretted that inno- 
cent blood had been shed, and even when the reac- 
tion came, he did not try very hard to further it.* 

The people of Andover remonstrated in October, 
1692, and in the following February an old woman 



*In volume ii. of the "Memorial History of Boston," there is an 
article on the witchcraft delusion, in which the writer, Mr. W. F. 
Poole, defends Mather from the imputations upon him in connection 
with the matter, and in a note, the editor, Mr. Justin Winsor, presents 
some of the arguments on which the defence rests. 



L58 COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

who was apparently more likely to have been a witch 
than many who had suffered as such, was acquitted of 
the charge, the reaction being complete. When, a 
little later, accusations were made against some of the 
relatives of the Mathers, and the wife of the Governor, 
Mather confessed that Satan had become confused. 
As in the case of the Quakers, there was a general 
jail delivery. In 1692, Mather published in London 
and Boston, his Wonders of the Invisible World, being 
an account of the trial of several witches lately executed 
in New England, and in 1700, one Robert Calef of 
Boston, published in London, his More Wonders of the 
Invisible World, in which he disputed the truth of some 
of the statements in Mather's book. It was burned in 
college yard at Cambridge, and the author was called 
" A coal from hell ;" but he dissipated the delusion. 
In looking at society in this period we must 
remember that the people were placed in circumstan- 
ces entirely new in the history of the world. To a 
considerable extent, but not entirely, they adapted the 
customs of England to these circumstances. They 
had sumptuary laws to which they had been accus- 
tomed at home. The clothing,* wages, and prices of 
various articles, were regulated by law. They used 
the stocks, the whipping-post, the block, the gag, and 
the ducking-chair, in punishments for offenders against 

*The law forbade "new and immodest fashions," "short sleeves, 
whereby the nakedness of the arm may be discovered in the wearing 
thereof," " immoderate great breeches," and " immoderate great 
sleeves," embroidered caps, gold or silver girdles or hatbands, or 
clothes having more than one slash in each sleeve and one in the back, 
though, if they happened to have such clothes on hand at the time of 
the passage of the law ( 1634 ), they were permitted to wear them out, 
with some exceptions. 



USE OF TOBACCO PROHIBITED. 159 

society. Their dwellings, at first built of logs, gradu- 
ally assumed more elegance. Their roads were few, 
and often fit only for foot-travellers or bridle-paths. 
Every home was also a manufactory, from force of cir- 
cumstances, but this was not very different from the 
state of affairs in the Mother Country among the mid- 
dle classes. 

Matron and maid at whirring distaff spin, 
Twisting long threads of flax ; and all the day 
The weaver plies his shuttle, and whiles away 
The peaceful hours with songs. 

The colonists could indulge in no tea nor coffee, 
and their bread was usually coarse rye and Indian. 
In some portions, as Virginia, New York, the Caro- 
linas, and Maryland, the same class distinctions were 
retained which divided society at home. 

Commerce was not large, and manufactures were 
frowned upon by England. In New England, and 
in Pennsylvania, tobacco was not to be used publicly 
in the streets, nor by minors* at any time, except on a 
physician's prescription ; but in Virginia and Maryland, 
it was one of the chief products, and it was freely used 
in New Amsterdam. Amusements were few. Christ- 
mas was not celebrated in New England, but Thanks- 

*In the laws of Connecticut of 1650, we read, "No person under the 
age of twenty years, nor any other that hath not already accustomed 
himself to the use thereof, shall take any tobacco until he hath 
brought a certificate, under the hands of some who are approved for 
knowledge and skill in physic, that it is useful for him, and also that he 
hath received a license from the court for the same." " No man shall 
take any tobacco publicly in the street, highways, or any barnyards, or 
upon training days in open places." We find also records of fines 
imposed for " drinking tobacco " in the highway, and it is but a few 
years since such fines were laid in Boston upon street smokers. 



160 COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 

giving was a feast day, and great was the excitement 
at the ordination balls and on other occasions when 
dancing and drinking might properly be indulged in. 
Bachelors were everywhere frowned upon. 

In most of the colonies the clergy were the only 
learned class, but their rank was higher in the North 
than in the South. Lawyers and physicians were not 
rated high in the South, but were better esteemed in 
the North. 

It is interesting to remember that the Quakers of 
Philadelphia set the best example of caring kindly for 
the sick and insane, and that in their prisons and 
asylums they were in advance of all European coun- 
tries. The example has proved happily contagious, 
though the management of these institutions is 
humane to an extent that sometimes gives rise to a 
fear that in the prisons the dangerous classes are so 
tenderly cared for as to actually put a premium on 
vice. 

In regard to the observance of Sunday, and attend- 
ance upon the services of the Church, the colonists 
usually made stringent laws, though there was less of 
this in Pennsylvania than elsewhere. Even there, 
however, we hear of a barber who was indicted for 
exercising his vocation on " First clay." In New 
Jersey the laws forbade travelling, recreation or work, 
upon pain of whipping, imprisonment or confinement 
in the stocks. In Virginia there were fines for 
absence from Church service, but in these respects 
Massachusetts took the lead in the strictness of her 
laws. It is almost needless to say that the so-called 
"Blue-laws of Connecticut," which have been made 
the butt of jokes and the object of violent objurgation, 



THE "BLUE LAW'S. 



161 



were never in ex- 
istence in that 
colony, but were 
manufactured by 
a writer who de- 
sired to hold it 
up to ridicule. 

Laws that en- 
tered- into many 
details which are 
n o w considered 
matters of indif- 
ference to the 
State, gradually 
fell into desue- 
tude, and passed 
away. They re- 
main in our his- 
tories interesting 
tokens of the life 
of the forefath- 
ers, and cannot 
be omitted from 
any comprehen- 
sive study of 
their times. 

In New Eng- 
land, schools and 
colleges were 
promptly established. Churches were the first con- 
cern. Harvard College was established in 1638, the 
college of William and Mary, in Virginia, in 1693, and 
Yale College, in 1701. There were two public libra- 




TIIE EARLY AMERICAN BOY OUT 
OF SCHOOL. 



162 



COLONIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 



ries within the limits of the colonies; one in Massa- 
chusetts, and one in South Carolina. Authorship was 
not cultivated to any great extent, but John Smith 
had written his account of his adventures ; George 
Sandys had translated Ovid ; and Governor Bradford 
had written a history of Plymouth Colony.* 

* The reader who is interested in the subject of this chapter will find 
entertainment in Mr. Lowell's essay, entitled " New England two 
Centuries ago," and in Irving's humorous " History of New. York." 
In the former, the foibles of the men of Boston and Plymouth are 
described ; and in the latter, the Dutch are pleasantly satirized- 




GliANDFATHEK'S TRUNK. 



CHAPTER IX. 

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SETTLERS AND THE INDIANS 
AND THE FRENCH. 

IN former chapters we have seen something of the 
relations existing between the new settlers and 
the Indian tribes. The whites came to a land but 
sparsely inhabited by a race that was not improving, 
but which, in some localities at least, was losing 
ground on account of disease and war. For the credit 
of the inhabitants of New England, the historian Pal- 
frey asserts that they did not obtain their right to the 
land by force, but "when they wanted an enlargement 
of their borders, they acquired it, if at all, by amicable 
agreement with any who had earlier possession," 
giving " all that the thing parted with was worth to 
the settler." Governor VVinslow said, in 1676, that 
before King Philip's war, "the English did not pos- 
sess one foot of land in this Colony (Massachusetts) 
but what was fairly obtained by honest purchase of 
the Indian proprietors," adding that a law was made 
that no one should even accept any gift of land from 
the Indians without the consent of the established 
authorities. 

Mr. Palfrey thinks that the Indians were actually 
benefitted on a vast scale by the whites, "in respect 
to the accommodations of their daily life, even suppos- 

163 



164 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

ing them still to adhere to their ancient manners and 
character, remaining in ignorance of the arts of civil- 
ization and of the revelations of Christianity. If they 
continued to be brutal savages still, they lost nothing, 
but, on the contrary, gained much by the neighbor- 
hood of industrious and orderly persons of a different 
race." No doubt this line of argument is correct, and 
that it is true that in times of peace the Indians 
profited by their contiguity to the whites. This does 
not palliate in any degree the sins of which the whites 
were guilty against them. 

A brief examination will show that there was blood- 
shedding and inhumanity on both sides. In 1501, 
the Portuguese Cortereal carried away from their 
Canadian homes fifty-seven of the natives, and in 
1520, the Spaniard Vasquez took two shiploads of 
Indians from the coast of Carolina, to suffer in the 
mines of Hispaniola (San Domingo). Thus the sons 
of the forest were early educated to consider the 
invading whites as dangerous enemies, who must be 
opposed by strategy or force. 

The Pilgrims when they landed on Cape Cod, were 
met at first by a flight of arrows from Indians who 
had been taught to look upon whites in this light, 
before Samoset welcomed them and opened the way for 
the treaty of comity and friendship with Massassoit. 
In Virginia the settlers under Smith kept up friendly 
relations with the Indians as long as Powhattan lived, 
but on the twenty-second of March, 1622, every set- 
tlement was attacked to revenge the murder of a 
brave, and three hundred and forty-seven persons were 
destroyed in an hour. The entire English community 
would have been swept away had it not been for 



MASSACRE AND EXTERMINATION. 165 

warning given to Jamestown and the settlements near 
it by a converted Indian. The plantations were 
reduced in number from eighty to eight, though the 
greater portion of the colonists were happily saved. A 
war of extermination was then begun by the whites, 
and, six years later, a law was passed that no treaty 
should be made with the natives. Meantime the 
Pequots had been actually exterminated in New Eng- 



■fSV^i 




A pioneer's home. 

land.* In 1643 it was again resolved in Virginia that 
no terms of peace with the Indians should be enter- 
tained. And in 1644, the Indians planned anew a 
general massacre. On the eighteenth of April, the 
bloody work began. Some three hundred victims 
were slain, and war continued for two years, until the 
chief, Opechancanough, was taken and slain. Desul- 

* See page no. 



166 THE SETTLERS, INDIAN* AND FRENCH. 

tory warfare was still sustained up to that time, 
but at last, in 1646, peace was established. 

One of the bright chapters in the history of the 
relations of the whites and Indians, tells the story of 
John Eliot, for forty years missionary to the red men. 
He was " teacher " of the church in Roxbury, Massa- 
chusetts, from 1632 to 1690, and minister to the 
Indians from 1646 to the time when bodily infirmi- 
ties obliged him to desist from his pious work. Eliot 
supposed, as others did, that the aborigines might be 
descended from the "lost tribes" of Israel. He 
learned the language from a servant to whom he taught 
English, and, after the Legislature in 1646, had passed 
an act for the propagation of the Gospel amongst them, 
he began to preach regularly in a place now within 
the limits of Newton, Mass. Referring to the action 
of the Legislature of Massachusetts on this subject, 
Mr. Palfrey says that " The General Court of Massa- 
chusetts was thus the first Missionary Society in the 
history of Protestant Christendom." * As early as 
1644, Massachusetts had given her county courts 
authority to take order from " time to time, to have 
the Indians instructed in the knowledge and worship 
of God." In 1645 another step was taken, the Elders 
being called upon for advice as to the modes of bring- 
ing the natives to a knowledge of God and his ways ; 
and, finally, in November, 1646, it was "ordered and 
decreed that two ministers should be chosen by the 
Elders of the churches every year, at the Court of 
Election, and so to be sent, with the consent of their 
churches, with whomsoever would freely offer them- 
selves to accompany them in that service, to make 

* " History of New England," volume ii., p. 189. 



ELLOT AND THE INDIANS. 167 

known the heavenly counsel of God among the Indians 
in most familiar manner, by the help of some able 
interpreter as might be most available to bring them 
to tjie knowledge of the truth, and their conversion to 
Jesus Christ ; and, for this end, that something might 
be allowed them by the General Court to give away 
freely to those Indians whom they should perceive 
most willing and ready to be instructed by them." 

A week before this action, Eliot made his beginning 
in the work, by holding his first service at Watertown, 
in a hut not far from an Indian village near the falls 
of the Charles River. The interest of the natives was 
great, and the meetings were continued. An account 
was published promptly in London, entitled " The 
Day-Breaking, if not the Sun-Rising, of the Gospel 
with the Indians in New England." 

The President of Harvard College, Dunster, was 
present at some of the meetings the next spring, and, 
in fact, had had the subject upon his mind for years. 
Eliot was invited from place to place, and gladly 
preached wherever he was wanted. He went further, 
and offered the Gospel to some who, like King Philip, 
rejected it with disdain. The greatest success was 
achieved in the vicinity of Boston, on Cape Cod, and 
at Martha's Vineyard, where Thomas Mayhew and his 
son had begun to labor in 1644. 

Eliot endeavored to civilize his wards, establishing 
schools among them, leading them to give up their 
savage habits, and to organize themselves into com- 
munities like those of their white neighbors. He 
prepared an Indian grammar, translated the Bible into 
their tongue, publishing the New Testament in 1661, 
and the Old Testament two years later. This was 



168 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

printed at Cambridge, and for a long' time was the 
only Bible printed in America. 

In 1648, the English Parliament took steps to help 
the work, by instructing the Commissioners for For- 
eign Plantations to bring in an ordinance for the encour- 
agement and advancement of learning and piety in 
New England. This led to the incorporation of the 
society "for the Promoting and Propagating of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ in New England," in 1649, six 
months after the execution of Charles I. * 

Shortly after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plym- 
outh, they made a treaty with Massassoit, sachem of 
the Pokonokets, which was respected for more than 
forty years. In 1660, Massassoit died, and his son, 
called by the English Philip, succeeded to his posi- 
tion. The new sachem was soon suspected of enmity 
to the settlers, and was consequently several times 
examined regarding his intentions. In 1674, a form er 
student of Harvard College, Sausaman, informed the 
whites that Philip was trying to incite the Indians to 
war, and, though the sachem appeared at Plymouth 
and protested his innocence, Sausaman was assassin- 
ated, and Philip opened hostilities by attacking the 
town of Swanzey, June 20, 1675. A bloody war of 
two years followed, which ended only when the 
sachem had been killed by a faithless follower, and the 
tribe of the Narragansetts had been exterminated as 
that of the Pequots had been. The chief fortress of 
the Narragansetts was in the present township of 
South Kingston, R. I. Canonchet, their sachem, had 
been at peace with the English, but was at the end of 

*" The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts " 
was not established until 1701. 



TO WN-B URNING. 169 

the first year of this war, accused by his enemy, 
Uncas, of aiding the Pokonokets. He said, " We 
will die to the last man, but we will not be slaves to 
the English." 

This was a time of trial to the settlers. They were 
at all hours subject to attack by an enemy who fought 
from hidden shelters, rushing out to burn or scalp 
those who were unprotected, but seldom daring to meet 
an enemy in open battle. Towns were burned. 
Brookfield, Deerfield, Northfield, Hadley, Warwick, 
Providence, were among the places that suffered, but 
it was the settlers outside of the hamlets and towns 
who bore the greatest hardships. It is related that 
Hadley was attacked on the first of September, 1675, 
when the inhabitants were engaged in the religious 
services of a fast day, and that a panic which followed, 
was quieted by the dramatic appearance of a venerable 
and mysterious stranger, afterwards said to have been 
William Goffe, one of the judges who voted for the 
execution of Charles I., who had, in 1660, sought 
safety in America.* 

When he left home at any time, it was with the 
well-grounded feeling that he might not see his wife 
and children again, and they knew not but he or they 
might be the victim of the savage tomahawk, or be 
ere night, carried off to a barbaric slavery. Few 

* The appearance of Goffe at this time is not supported by contem- 
porary testimony. Palfrey, the careful historian of New England, was 
unable to find any earlier authority than Hutchinson's history of Mas- 
sachusetts, written nearly a century after the alleged event. The 
attack on Hadley is not even mentioned by William Hubbard, the 
historian of the time, who was then living. The story made so deep 
an impression on Sir Walter Scott, that he put it into the mouth of 
the Roundhead Bridgenorth, in "Peveril of the Peak." (Chap, xiv.) 



170 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

families were without some loss. Over six hundred men 
had been killed ; many more had been disabled ; thir- 
teen towns and hundreds of houses had been burned, 
and horses and cattle had been destroyed in great 
numbers. With the death of Philip war came to an 
end, though there still remained some Indians who for 
a time kept up a show of opposition to the conquerors. 
The Mohegans had remained faithful to the whites, 
and no settlers in Connecticut had been molested. 
The people of that colony now sent generous gifts of 
corn to supply the wants of their less fortunate 
friends. Ireland, too, sent over a contribution to 
relieve the distress of Plymouth. 

In Maine the Indians had been incited in 1675 to 
rise against the whites, either by accounts that they 
had received from the South, or by the outrages, some- 
times of a malignant nature, that had been inflicted 
upon them by the settlers. The country east of the 
Piscataqua was ravaged for more than two years by 
the relentless savages, who burned almost every set- 
tlement, shot down travellers on the roads, murdered 
women and infants in their homes, and carried off 
many men, women and children as prisoners. In the 
autumn of 1675, depredations were committed at 
Wells, Kittery, and other places, and the settlements 
at Oyster River, Berwick, Salmon Falls, Dover and 
Exeter, suffered from fire and the knife. Winter with 
its snows caused a cessation of Indian atrocities, but the 
next season the treacherous work began again. Aid was 
sent from Massachusetts, but the leader of the expedi- 
tion, Major Waldron, entrapped a body of Indians by 
means of a stratagem not authorized by any code of 
war, and gave grounds for terrible retaliation by 



lVALDRON'S PESFIDIOl's STRATAGEM. 



171 



the red men. Waldron proposed a sham fight, to 
Indians who had come to him for protection, and 
when they had emptied their guns, caused them to be 
surrounded by his men and taken prisoners. In 
April, 1678, peace was concluded, but the Abenakis 
(Abnakis, or Abenaquais) rose again, and it was not 
until 1670 that they were really subdued. They did 




BTTILDIXG A WIGWAM. 



not forget the trick of Major Waldron, and after thir- 
teen years, in June, 1689, attacked the garrison 
house at Dover, and killed him and twenty-two 
others, carrying a larger number to Canada to be sold 
to the French. 

In the year 1689, a series of wars began that did 



172 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

not end until 1663 ; the dispute was essentially the 
same all the time, though it bore at different periods 
various names. It was a struggle between France 
and England for supremacy on the American 
Continent. The English Revolution of 1688 had 
resulted in the escape of James II. to France, and the 
accession of his son-in-law, the Prince of Orange, to the 
Fmglish crown, as William III. Indirectly, it brought 
about the war with France, which lasted from 1689 
to 1697, involving the American Colonies. It was 
known as King William's War, and ended with the 
peace of Ryswick, signed in 1697. Queen Anne's 
war was in Europe the war of the Spanish Succession, 
and ended with the treaty of Utrecht, in 171 3. King 
George's war was the war of the Austrian Succession 
in Europe, and closed with the treaty of Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle, in 1748. Our French and Indian war was the 
Seven Years' War in Europe, which was closed by the 
treaty of Paris, in 1763. 

During King William's War, the French were 
aided by the Indians, who carried on their warfare in 
the usual manner, skulking and springing from 
ambushes, burning and butchering and carrying 
away captives. Schenectady, N. Y., was burned 
February 8th, and all but sixty of the inhabitants 
massacred. Salmon Falls was burned March 27th, 
and Casco and York, Me., and Exeter, N. H., suf- 
fered in the same way that year. Sir William 
Phips, a native of Pemaquid, was sent to attack the 
French settlements in Nova Scotia, then called 
Acadie, and he not only ravaged them and took Port 
Royal (afterwards called Annapolis, in compliment 
to Queen Anne), but also seized the eastern part of 



QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 173 

Maine, where a fort was erected in 1692, at Pema- 
quid. 

In 1684, the English in New York made a treaty 
of peace with the "Five Nations" (the Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas) who 
inhabited the central portion of their State, but in 1696, 
the French had won them over, and planned a general 
invasion of New England, in connection with the 
Abenakis, who still kept up a desultory warfare on 
the eastern frontier. The unfruitful war was brought 
to a close by the treaty of Ryswick, in time to restrain 
this horror. 

In the year 1700, Charles II., of Spain, died,* leaving 
a will by which he appointed Phillip of Anjou, grand- 
son of Louis XIV., of France, his successor on the 
throne. The union of the crowns of Spain and France 
in one family was detrimental to the peace of Europe, 
and William III. determined to oppose it. Complica- 
tions were increased by the death of James II., at St. 
Germain, in 1701, and by the recognition of his son 
as King of Great Britain, by Louis XIV. This 
enabled William to revive the " Grand Alliance," and 
Austria, England, and the States General (Netherlands) 
prepared for war against France ; but before hostilities 
actually began, William died, March 8, 1702. War 
was, however, declared May 15, and operations began 
immediately. The colonies in America affected were 
those which bordered the possessions of France and 
Spain, New England and Florida. South Carolina 
sent an expedition against St. Augustine, and reduced 
it, but the force was obliged to retreat on the appear- 
ance of Spanish vessels of war. Other expeditions 

* With him the Spanish House of Habsburg became extinct. 



174 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

were more successful, and the Colonies obtained a 
good claim to the territory that is now Georgia. 

In the North there was a repetition of the scenes 
of the previous war. Deerfield was attacked on the 
first of March, 1704, by a party of French and Indians 
that had come from Canada, using snowshoes to 
effect the winter's journey. Only one dwelling and 
the church remained after the fight. Forty-seven 
of the people were slaughtered, and one hundred and 
twelve carried away captive, including the minister 
and his family. Just after sunrise the party began the 
return march to Canada, a march of distress, torture 
and death. In 1708, the French planned a more ter- 
rible blow, intending to gather an overwhelming force 
and sweep away as many settlements as possible. 
The beautiful Lake Winnepesaukee was the place of 
rendezvous, whence a descent was made upon Haver- 
hill, which was sacked and burned with the most 
heartrending ruthlessness. On the other hand, the 
Colonies ravaged the French territory about the 
Penobscot, and sent an exhibition against Acadie, in 
1 7 10, which was successful in permanently wresting 
Nova Scotia from the French. In 171 1, an attempt 
was made at the capture of Canada by forces contrib- 
uted by England and the Colonies, but it was frus- 
trated, and the Treaty of Utrecht, signed in the 
spring of 171 3, brought the war to a close. 

This had been a war of religions, for both on the 
Continent and in America, Romanist and Protestant 
were arrayed against each other. The Protestant 
English did not relish any increase of power on the 
part of Romish France, and the Protestant colonies 
found themselves opposed by Romish Canada, and by 



KING GEORGE'S WAR. 175 

the allies which they supposed had been gained by the 
arts of the effective missionary priests. The pioneers 
were inspired with the deepest detestation for the 
Jesuits, who, they supposed, filled the savages with 
hatred even more bloodthirsty than they naturally 
possessed.* The pioneers were not without reasons 
for their aversion to the Jesuits, for they knew that 
at times when the savages had become weary of car- 
rying on warfare against weak women and helpless 
infants, the French continued their murderous work. 

After the Treaty of Utrecht, there was peace 
between England and France, until the death of 
Charles VI., of Austria (the last of the Habsburgs 
in the male line), brought about the war of the Aus- 
trian Succession, in behalf of his daughter, Maria 
Theresa, whose claims to the throne were supported 
by the Protestant countries, England and Holland. 
The claims of the Elector of Bavaria being supported 
by France and Spain, war was declared between 
France and England March 20, 1744. This is known 
as King George's War, after George II., then on the 
English throne, but in Europe it was called the War 
of the Austrian Succession. Spain was already at war 
with England, and, though there had been nominal 
peace between 171 3 and 1744, there were many 
scenes of carnage. 

There was an Indian war in New England in 1722 ; 
and in 1723 and 1724, Dover, N. H., was attacked, 

*So intense was the feeling, that in 1700, the Legislature of New 
York passed a law for hanging every Popish priest who voluntarily 
came into the Province This is not strange to us who can read the 
narration of the French Jesuits, in which they exultantly record the 
most diabolical deeds of the savages as brave and beautiful acts. 



176 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

and many persons suffered from careless exposure to 
the skulking foes. The French were constantly incit- 
ing the Indians against the English, and the gov- 
ernor of Canada acted through Father Rasle, a priest 
who had for many years exerted a great influence 
over the Abenakis, among whom he lived in most cordial 
relations. During Queen Anne's War, in 1 705, an expe- 
dition had gone from Massachusetts against Norridge- 
wock, and had burned the wigwams and the chapel in 
which Rasle officiated at the time. In 1721 an 
attempt was made to seize the missionary himself, but 
he escaped, his church was plundered, and his dic- 
tionary of the Abenaki language was carried away.* 

In July, 1722, war was declared; it lasted three 
years, and was called " Lovewell's War," from Captain 
John Lovewell, who, in 1725, commanded an expedition 
against the Indians, and met death with most of his 
men, in what is now Fryeburg, Me., May 6, 1725. 
The Indian settlement was attacked August 23, 1724, 
and burned, Rasle being killed as he was firing upon 
the English. The Norridgewock Indians never rallied 
from this blow. Mr. Whittier describes the devasta- 
tion in his Mogg Megone : 

Castine with his wives lies closely hid 
Like a fox in the woods of Pemaquid ! 
On Sawga's banks the man-of-war 
Sits in his wigwam like a squaw, — 
Squando has fled, and Mogg Megone, 
Struck by the knife of Sagamore John, 
Lies stiff and stark and cold as a stone. . . . 
White bones aie glistening in the sun, 

* It is now carefully preserved in the library of Harvard College. 
The Father's " strong box," captured at the same time, was for some 
years among the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 



LOVEWELL'S WAR. ■ 177 

And where the house of prayer arose, 

And the holy hymn, at daylight's close 

And the aged priest stood up to bless 

The children of the wilderness, 

There is naught save ashes sodden and dank ; 
And the birchen boats of the Norridgewock, 
Tethered to tree and stump and rock, 

Rotting along the river bank ! 

The poet refers to the atrocities of the Indians and 
suggests the inciting power of the Jesuit in the 
lines : 

Terrible thoughts on his memory crowd 

Of evil seen and done, — 
Of scalps brought home by his savage flock 
From Casco and Sawga and Sagadahock 

In the Church's service won ! 

In 171 1 the Tuscarora Indians had incited the 
smaller tribes about them to unite to exterminate the 
Colonists in North Carolina, and on the twenty- 
second of September, all the settlements along the 
Roanoake and Pamlico Sound were surprised, at a 
given hour, their houses burned, hundreds slain, and 
the others turned adrift in the woods. The terrible 
slaughter lasted several days, only ceasing when there 
were no victims to be sacrificed. The Tuscaroras 
had been led to this step by hearing of preparations 
for a settlement on the Neuse River, by refugees 
from Switzerland and Germany. The war ended in 
1713, and the Tuscaroras went northward, joining the 
" Five " Nations, making them six. 

In 1 71 5, the Yemasses, incited by the Spaniards, 
allied themselves with the Catawbas and Cherokees, 
sent the "bloody stick" from tribe to tribe, inviting 
all to make a desperate assault upon the settlements 



178 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

from the Cape Fear River to the St. John's, and on 
Good Friday, April 15, 1715, they attacked the scat- 
tered settlements with the madness of revenge. The 
massacre was as indiscriminate as usual, but the sav- 
ages were soon met by the more deliberate efforts of 
civilized warfare, and were routed. They found a 
place of refuge in Florida, whence they still continued 
to sally forth from time to time to kill and scalp. 

In 1729, the French settlers came in conflict with 
the Natchez Indians, their commander, Chopart, hav- 
ing demanded the site of their chief village as a plan- 
tation. The French were attacked on the twenty- 
eight of November, and every one of the settlers was 
murdered before noon. Exactly two months later, the 
Indians were attacked by other Frenchmen and many 
of them killed. The tribe was scattered, and more 
than four hundred were sold as slaves to go to His- 
paniola. In this war the French were aided by the 
Choctaws. 

The French had begun their settlement of Louis- 
iana at Biloxi (now in the territory of Mississippi), in 
1699, under Lemoine dTberville, and in 1702, the 
chief body of the settlers had been removed to Mobile. 
The southwestern possessions of France were vast, 
but her hold upon them was of the feeblest. In 171 7 
a new project was launched, which was expected to 
pay the immense French debt, to develop the territory 
of Louisiana, and to increase the importance of France. 
It was the celebrated '• Mississippi Bubble," organized 
by John Law, a refugee from English justice, who, in 
1 7 10, induced the French ministry to accept a plan 
which he afterwards developed into a grander scheme, 
getting a charter for a bank in 1716, and in 17 18, daz- 



THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE. 179 

zling France with promises of fabulous wealth, by 
investments in his paper moneys. In 1720, after 
passing through spasmodic excitements that can 
scarcely be described or imagined, France found her- 
self bankrupt, her schemes a delusion, and her finan- 
cial leader a refugee from popular vengeance.* 

The territory of Louisiana had been granted to 
Antoine Crozat, Marquis du Chatel, in 171 2. Unable 
to establish a colony, despite great sacrifices, Crozat 
resigned his monopoly to Louis XIV., and it was 
transferred to John Law, 17 17. Under the auspices of 
the Western Company, the city of New Orleans was 
founded, in 1718, receiving its name from the Duke 
of Orleans, then regent of France and patron of law. 
In 1730, it was made the capital of Louisiana. The 
" Company of the West " continued to control the ter- 
ritory until 1723, when it was restored to the French 
crown. The colonists were distressed by the powerful 
Chickasaws, the same who had baffled De Soto, in 
1540, by burning their town rather than supply him 
with burden-bearers. f They had fought and con- 
quered in defensive wars the Choctaws (who were 
allies of the French), Creeks, Cherokees, Kickapoos 
and Osages, but were on friendly terms with the Eng- 
lish, and were considered the most intrepid warriors 
of the south. They made all French settlements in 
the valley of the Mississippi unsafe, and effectually 

* England had passed through a similar convulsion at the same time, 
and her people had in many cases found themselves beggared by trust- 
ing to the delusive hopes of making fortunes in haste through the 
"South Sea Scheme," which exploded in the summer of 1720, a few- 
months before that of law ruined French finances. 

t See page 72. 



180 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

stopped communication between New Orleans and 
Kaskaskia (Illinois). 

In 1736, after two years of preparation, the French 
put forth their entire force, with the countenance of 
the home government and the help of the Choctaws, 
and probably other Indian allies, to subdue the 
proud Chickasaws. Bienville, one of the French 
commanders, was defeated and forced to take up an 
inglorious retreat, and another leader was captured 
and burned at the stake. The struggle here again 
was not simply one of French against the Indians, for 
the Chickasaws were aided by the military genius 
of the English, who were desirous of discomfitting 
the French. Further attempts were made at invad- 
ing the land of the Chickasaws, but they were fruit- 
less, and the French returned, the country from the 
mouth of the Ohio to Baton Rouge, remaining an 
unsettled desolation. Oglethorpe, in Georgia, was 
able, by his concilatory methods, to establish friendly 
relations with these wild warriors, as well as with the 
Creeks, Cherokees, and even the Choctaws, as early 
as 1736. 

The death of Charles VI., of Austria, before referred 
to, and the accession of Maria Theresa, precipitated the 
war of the Austrian Succession in Europe, and the 
effects were felt in America in a new struggle 
between the French and their Indian allies and our 
English colonists, known as "King George's War." 
(1 744-1 748) The Indians did not engage in this war 
to so great an extent as they had in former conflicts 
between the Europeans. The principal event was 
the taking of Louisburg. The French had made 
offensive demonstrations even before the news of the 




STATUE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AT PHILADELPHIA. 181 



CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG. 183 

declaration of war had been received in America, 
New England, and had destroyed a garrison and 
fishery station at Canseau. The Indians, too, had 
attacked the ruined fortifications of Annapolis, and 
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, conceived the 
bold design of sending a force to reduce the " Gibral- 
tar of America," as Louisburg was called from its 
impregnability. Obtaining in the Legislature a major- 
ity of but one vote in favor of the enterprise, the Gov- 
ernor dispatched an expedition under the command of 
Sir William Pepperell, of Maine, comprising men of 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and 
Rhode Island, aided by others from New York, New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania, carrying as their motto the 
words suggested by Whitefield, an admirer of Pepper- 
ell, " Nil Desperandum, CJiristo Duce :" "With Christ 
for leader,' nothing is to be despaired of." 

There was much opposition to the scheme in the 
States to the southward, and Franklin ridiculed it in 
a witty letter. New England, however, was in earnest, 
and the people joined the expedition with a feeling 
that has been compared to the enthusiasm of the 
crusaders of old. 

To the surprise of the world, the fortress was 
reduced in less than two months, and on the third of 
July, the bells of Boston rung out a peal of thankful- 
ness, and the people humbly exclaimed, " God has 
gone out of the way of his common providence in a 
remarkable and most miraculous manner." 

In 1746, there were rumors of a grand descent of 
the French upon New England, but nothing occurred 
of the sort except the capture of Fort Massachusetts, 
at Williamstown, and some incursions of little import- 



184 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

ance into New York. A fleet from France, intended 
for Canada, was forced to strike its colors. It was 
this rumor, however, that broke up a plan agreed 
upon by New England, New York, New Jersey, 
Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania for the invasion 
of Canada, which was to have been carried out in 
1746. The war of the Austrian succession came to 
an end by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, 
and by its terms Louisburg and Cape Breton were 
restored to France. Upon this settlement the Col- 
onies were made restless. They felt that they had 
striven without stint to preserve to the Mother Coun- 
try her distant possessions, and that they did not 
receive from the powers at home the consideration 
which they deserved. 

The English had kept up their missionary efforts 
under Eliot and his companions, and the field of 
operations in this respect has been gradually en- 
larged, for John Sergeant, a graduate of Yale Col- 
lege, had served as minister among the Stockbridge 
Indians, in Western Massachusetts, from 1734 to 
1749; the celebrated Jonathan Edwards had super- 
intended the same mission for several years ; and 
David Brainerd (who had been expelled from Yale 
College) became preacher to the same Indians, in 
July, 1742, under appointment from the society that 
encouraged Eliot. In 1744, Brainerd was ordained, 
and began to preach among the Indians at the forks 
of the Delaware, in Pennsylvania, removing after- 
wards to Newark, N. J., where his health wore out. 

In 1749, the British Parliament acknowledged the 
Moravian Brethren as an Episcopal Church, and 
encouraged them to settle in America. They came 



FRENCH CLAIMS IN THE WEST. 185 

in considerable numbers, and devoted themselves 
with patience and success to missions among the 
Indians, having stations in Pennsylvania, and at the 
present town of Gnadenhutten (tents of grace), in 
Tuscarawas County, O. The Indian converts of the 
Moravians were attacked and put to death in the 
town of Paxton, Pa., in 1764, and at a later period, 
March 8, 1782, one hundred were treacherously mur- 
dered at Gnadenhutten, on the ground that they had 
been connected with outrages in Pennsylvania, with 
which they had had nothing to do.* 

The next struggle between the English and 
French opened in 1754, without a declaration of war. 
It was not at first connected with a European war, 
as the other struggles between the colonists had 
been, but it ended at the time that the " Seven 
Years' War," which convulsed Europe, was brought 
to a close by the treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763, 
and was, therefore, to a considerable extent, coinci- 
dent with that war. 

The French claimed the northwestern territory of 
the United States, by virtue of the discoveries of 
Marquette, Jolliet and La Salle. They had not, how- 
ever, gone to the West for purposes of colonization, 
but rather to discover, and for half a century after 
the death of La Salle, the French missionaries are 
the only persons who gave any information of what 
was going on on the Ohio River. After the treaty 

* The history of the Moravian Missions is related with great de- 
tail, in " The Life and Times of David Zeisberger, the Western 
pioneer and apostle of the Indians," by Edmund De Schweinitz : 
Philadelphia, 187 1. See, also, an article on Gnadenhutten, by W. D. 
Howells, in the Atlantic Monthly, for January, 1869. 



186 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FEENCH. 

of Aix-la-Chapelle, the French began to take formal 
possession of the region on the Ohio River,* by 
erecting wooden crosses, at the foot of which they 
buried plates of lead setting forth the facts that 
Louis XIV. claimed the land by right of discovery 
and by treaty with other European rulers. 

English traders were at this time forbidden to 
visit the region, but it was a fact that nearly nine 
years before, they had begun to move about among the 
Indians buying peltries of them. In 1748, Thomas 
Lee, a member of the Royal Council of Virginia, asso- 
ciated certain others with him (among whom were 
Lawrence and Augustine Washington) to form the 
"Ohio Company," and a half million acres of land 
were granted to them. The Governor of Virginia was 
interested in the new company, and made treaties 
with the Indians, and tried to open negotiations with 
the French. The French would not treat, however, 
and attacked an Indian village in which some traders 
were hidden, taking them prisoners. The troops of 
the company were attacked, and, in 1753, a Virginia 
party engaged in building a fort on the present site of 
Pittsburg, was driven off, the French finishing the 
work and calling it Fort Du Ouesne. 

To repel these encroachments, it was determined by 

* The right to this region had long been in dispute, and the matter 
had not been settled by the treat}'. The English claim to the region 
from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, was based upon a treaty entered 
into by the representatives of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, 
and the " Six Nations," at Lancaster, Pa., July 2, 1744, by which the 
latter assigned the territory to the English for four hundred pounds. 
The treaty is said to have been signed when the Indians were under 
the influence of liquors. It conveyed lands to which they had no 
valid title. 



BRADDOCK AND WASHINGTON. 



187 



the English to send out four expeditions. General 
Edward Braddock, Commander-in-Chief, was to 
go towards the Ohio and the Northwest ; General 
Lyman (the command afterward fell to Sir William 
Johnson) was to attack Crown Point with a body of 
Provincial militia and some Mohawk allies ; Gover- 
nor William Shirley, of Massachusetts, was to reduce 
Fort Niagara ; and Lieutenant-Colonel John Winslow 




bkaddock's HEADQUARTERS IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. 

(great-grandson of Edward Winslow, of Plymouth) 
was to force the French from Nova Scotia. 

Braddock was aided by Franklin, then Postmaster- 
General, and George Washington, who in 1753 had 
been sent by the Governor of Virginia, to examine the 
state of affairs in the region he was now to invade, 
and the expedition set out in the spring of 1755. It 



188 TEE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

marched slowly through the wilderness, the General 
being fettered by English military rules, and did not 
meet the enemy until July 9, ten miles from Fort Du 
Ouesne, when Braddock was defeated, and, mortally 
wounded, was obliged to retreat. In a few days he 
died, and the command devolved upon Washington. 
The defeat of this expedition showed that British sol- 
diers were no better than American militiamen, and 
gave the colonists more inclination to depend with 
confidence upon themselves ; but it was disastrous in 
making the savages less fearful of molestation in their 
raids upon the unprotected regions of Pennslyvania 
and Virginia, which suffered much from their incur- 
sions in the following years. 

The armies destined to go against Niagara and 
Crown Point met at Albany, in June, and General 
Shirley went westward, stopping, however, at Oswego, 
disheartened by the news of Braddock's defeat, while 
Johnson and Lyman went towards Lake Champlain. 
The English were entrapped at Bloody Pond on the 
eighth of September, by General Dieskau, command- 
ing the French, and Colonel Ephraim Williams and 
Hendrick, a chief of the Mohawk allies, were killed.* 
The English Americans fell back to the lake (Lake 
George), where a second battle was fought ; Dieskau 
was defeated and killed, and his panic-stricken soldiers 
fled the field. Instead of profiting by this success, 
Johnson merely erected a fort, which he called William 
Henry, making no attempt to reduce Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point, against which he had been sent. 

* Before leaving home on this expedition, Williams had made his 
will, leaving his property for the founding, in western Massachusetts, of 
the college which now bears his name. 



THE A < A 1)L 1 NS TRANSPORTED. 189 

Winslow's expedition against Acadie was the only 
real success of the year, and it is not one to be gloried 
in. It has been made familiar by the poet Longfellow, 
in his Evangeline. The inoffensive inhabitants were 
captured by false pretence and carried from their 
homes to be distributed throughout the Colonies, and 
some went to France. Thus the poet pictures the 
burning of the humble homes of the French : 



Suddenly rose from the south a light, as in autumn the blood-red 
Moon climbs the crystal walls of heaven, and o'er the horizon 
Titan-like stretches its hundred hands upon mountain and meadow, 
Seizing the rocks and the rivers, and piling huge shadows together 
Broader and ever broader it gleamed on the roofs of the village — 
Gleamed on the sky and the sea, and the ships that lay in the roadstead. 
Columns of shining smoke uprose, and flashes of flame were 
Thrust through their folds and withdrawn, like the cpuiverjng hands of 

a martyr. 
Then as the wind seized the gleeds and the burning thatch, and, uplifting, 
Whirled them aloft through the air, at once from a hundred house-tops 
Started the sheeted smoke with flashes of flame intermingled. 
These things beheld in dismay the crowd on the shore and on ship- 
board. 



The French command fell to General Montcalm, 
after the death of Dieskau, and the command of the 
English troops to General Shirley, after the death of 
Braddock. In 1756, Montcalm captured Oswego, 
with a great amount of stores, and the next year he 
reduced Fort William Henry, the force in it being 
massacred by his Indian allies after surrendering. 

In 1758 the tide turned. William Pitt, afterwards 
Earl of Chatham, had cotne to the head of affairs in 
England, and planned the capture of all the French 
possessions in America. The call for volunteers 
which he made was gallantly responded to, and an 



190 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

army of fifty thousand men was in the field at the 
opening of the campaign of 1758. Louisburg was 
immediately attacked, and it capitulated to Generals 
Amherst and Wolfe, after a siege of fifty clays, July 
25, yielding nearly six thousand prisoners and filling 
the American heart with courage and enthusiasm. 




DEATH OF GENERAL WOLKE. 



General Abercrombie and Lord Howe advanced on 
Fort Ticonderoga, but met an overwhelming defeat, 
losing more than cwo thousand men. July 8. 

A portion of Abercrombie's forces went to Oswego 
and Frontenac and captured them, and on the twenty- 
fifth of November, troops under the guidance of 



WASHINGTON AT FOBT PITT. 191 

Washington, raised the British flag over Fort Du 
Quesne, naming it Fort Pitt, in honor of the British 
statesman. The success of Amherst at Louisburg led 
to his appointment to supercede Abercrombie, and in 
July he took Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which 
were not strongly garrisoned, and then, joining Gen- 
eral Wolfe, he proceeded against Quebec, on the thir- 
teenth of September. The Heights of Abraham were 
scaled, to the great surprise of the French, and the 
English gained a complete victory, though the gallant 
Wolfe was killed, and the French lost General Mont- 
calm. On the seventeenth, Quebec capitulated. On 
the eighth of September of the next year, Montreal 
and all Canada were surrendered to the English, and 
the French contest for supremacy on this continent 
was ended.* 

Complications with the French and Indians were 
not ended, however. In fact, the most sanguinary 
scenes of the past were reenacted with the frenzy of 
desperation. As the bloody club had been sent through 
the Southern Colonies at an earlier period, now the 
bloody tomahawk was sent from tribe to tribe among 
the Indians of the Northwest, and a concerted 
attack upon all exposed settlements was planned. 
The moving spirit in this new onslaught was Pontiac, 

* " With the triumph of Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham began the 
history of the United States. By removing an enemy whose dread had 
knit the colonists to the Mother-Country, and by breaking through the 
line with which France had barred them from the basin of the Missis- 
sippi, Pitt laid the foundation of the great Republic of the West. Nor 
were these triumphs less momentous to Britain. The Seven Years' 
War is, in fact, a turning-point in our National History, as it is a turn- 
ing-point in the historv of the world." — Green's " History of the Eng- 
lish People," Book IX., Chap. I. 



192 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

a chief of the Ottawas, friendly to the French, who 
had defended Detroit against the attacks of other 
Indians when it was held by the French. He is 
thought to have led a band of Ottawas on the occasion 
of the defeat of Braddock. It was at the end of 1762, 
that he sent to all the tribes of the Northwest propos- 
ing that the general movement should be made in the 
spring of 1763. The effort was successful. In a very 
short space of time all the forts west of Oswego, 
excepting Pittsburg, Niagara and Detroit, had been 
taken by the Indians. Detroit was besieged from 
May 1 2th to October 12th. On the sixteenth of May, 
the garrison at Sandusky was massacred ; on the 
twenty-fifth, the post at St. Joseph's, near the head of 
Lake Michigan, was surprised, and all but three men 
massacred ; on the twenty-seventh, Fort Pitt was 
warned ; the next day, Fort Ligonier, fifty or sixty 
miles distant, was threatened, and an entire family was 
tomahawked ; Fort Miami was taken the same day ; 
the next day a party sent to relieve Detroit was cap- 
tured ; on the first of June, Fort Ouatonon, near 
Lafayette, Indiana, was taken ; Michilimackinac 
(Mackinaw) fell on the second of June before the 
stratagem of a party of Indian ball-players, whose 
squaws held their hatchets under their blankets until 
the moment arrived for their use ; traders were met 
and massacred, families received no mercy, the laborer 
in the field, and the babe in the cradle, were alike 
sacrificed to the brutal hate of the savages. 

The siege of Detroit was raised on the twelfth of 
October, and most of the tribes sued for terms of 
peace, but Pontiac and the Ottawas were not subdued 
until their hopes of eventually getting aid from the 



THE S2fD OF THE INDIAN WAIis. 



vjz 



French were extinguished by a letter received by him 
on the last day of the month. Even then he did not 
give up his efforts against the whites, but went to 
Illinois, where he had some encouragement from the 
French, and kept 
up a show of resist 
ance until 1776, 
when he formally 
submitted to Brit- 
ish rule. He died 
by the hand of an 
assassin, at Ka- 
hokia, opposite St. 
Louis, in 1769. 

The "Seven 
Years' War" end- 
ed in 1763, by the 
treaty of Paris, but 
the old " French 
and Indian War," 
though it nomi- 
nally ended at the 
same time, left the 
war of Pontiac * as 
a legacy, and that 
iicl not terminate 
antil 1764, and ir- 
regular warfare 
continued for some 

time after that. The end of the long struggle found 
a population of two million and a half, of whom half 
a million were negro slaves. In general they were 

* See Parkman's " The Conspiracy of Pontiac." 




MONUMENT TO GENEI'.AL JAMES- 
WOEFE AT QUEBEC. 



194 THE SETTLERS, INDIANS AND FRENCH. 

orderly, if not strongly religious people, inheriting the 
good traits of the race from which they came, with 
a strong love for England, which was to most of them 
truly the Mother Country. There was now peace 
from the French on the north and west, from the 
Spaniards on the south, and from the lurking Indian, 
who had, almost from the beginning, been a terrible 
scourge to the frontier as its line had gradually moved 
from the Atlantic towards the western sun. 

Down the rivers, o'er the prairies, 
Came the warriors of the nations, 
Came the Delawares and the Mohawks, 
Came the Choctaws and Camanches, 
Came the Shoshonies and Blackfeet, 
Came the Pawnees and Omahas, 
Came the Mandans and Dacotahs, 
Came the Hurons and Ojibways, 
All the warriors drawn together. 




CHAPTER X. 



THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 




I 



T has already been observed 
that the first representative 
Reassembly convened in America, 
met in 1619, at Jamestown, Va. 
It was the first indication of the 
mode of government to be 
adopted in after time in all parts 
of the land. The Republican form of government 
which is now guaranteed to all the States by the 
Constitution, was gradually developed by the force of 
circumstances, and the evident needs of the people. 

Slowly but surely in the shock of wars, 
The ample victories of peace are wrought. 

They bind up new-made wounds, and heal old scars, 
They cherish letters and encourage thought. 

The governments of the original thirteen Colonies 
were not uniform at first, and their characteristic 
traits form an interesting and important study. There 
were various races in the different Colonies, and there 
were also different social classes. The political rights 
belonged only to the "freemen," called also "the bet- 
ter sort," and in Massachusetts these were the church 
members. In Virginia they were the " gentlemen," 
but there, also, they belonged to the Established 

196 



190 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 

Church. Below these were the " lower orders ; " per- 
sons holding the unpopular creed ; those who had been 
sent from Europe to be sold into temporary bondage,* 
and those who were ineligible through youth or shift- 
lessness. The slaves found in all the Colonies at one 
time or another, formed the lowest class. Slavery 
began in Virginia, in 1619 — the year before the 
Pilgrims landed at Plymouth — but for half a century 
it did not rapidly extend. 

The earliest importations of negro slaves to New Eng- 
land, were in 1637, but the first cargo direct from Africa 
did not arrive until 1645, when a Salem ship left for 
Guinea for that purpose. 

The following advertisement from the Brooklyn 
(N. Y.) Star, shows how long negro slavery held 
its place in that region, though similar advertisements 
of a later date, might be found without difficulty. 

Ten Dollars Reward. — Ran away from the farm of J J. Cossart, 
Esq., Foster's Meadow, Long Island, a French negro wench answering 
to the name of Mary. She is about thirty years old, remarkably 
short and slim, yellowish complexion, speaks broken English, and 
generally smiles when she speaks. She left the farm on Thursday, the 
8th inst, between 7 and 8 o'clock, carrying with her all her clothes. 
Her dress, of course, cannot be particularly described, but her French 
appearance and manner of dressing will detect her. Persons secreting 
or harboring her will be prosecuted according to law, and whoever 
will secure her or deliver her to any jail, and notify said J. J. 
Cossart or Francis V. Rivere, 190 Broadway, will receive the above 
reward and reasonable charges. April 14, 1813. 

* The supply of white servants was early made a business in Virginia. 
The Roundheads sent many hundreds of Royalist prisoners after the 
battle of Worcester, September 3, 1651 ; Scotsmen were sent from the 
field of Dunbar, September 3, 1650 ; a thousand who participated in the 
insurrection of Monmouth, 1685 ; and many Roman Catholics from 
Ireland, at other dates, swelled the number. 



THE SLAVE TRADE. 199 

The " Assiento " Treaty was made in 1689, between 
the king of Spain and other powers, for furnishing 
the Spanish Dominions in America with slaves from 
Africa. In 171 3, it was transferred to England, and 
thus Queen Anne obtained a monoply of the trade, 
agreeing to furnish the Spanish colonies forty-eight 
hundred negroes a year, and it is estimated that the 
English took altogether some fifteen thousand negroes 
annually from Africa. Bancroft says, that the num- 
ber imported by the English had reached nearly three 
millions (one tenth of which came to the Colonies), 
before 1776, when Congress prohibited the trade, 
"omitting half a million purchased in Africa and 
thrown into the Atlantic on the passage." 

The Northern climate was too severe for the negro. 
He did not thrive even in Virginia, and it was there- 
fore in the colonies further south that he was found 
in the largest numbers. England forced negroes 
upon the Colonies so energetically, however, as to 
excite opposition to the importation. In 1702, Queen 
Anne found it necessary to urge her colonial govern- 
ors to encourage the trade, and in 1712, boasted to 
Parliament that she had secured in Spanish America, 
a new market for slaves. The traffic was avowed in 
England to be " the pillar and support of the British 
plantation trade in America." Georgia did not suf- 
fer slavery to exist within its borders at first, and 
Oglethorpe said that at last it was forced upon the 
colony. George Whitefield, indeed, urged that it was 
essential to the prosperity of the plantation. In 1676, 
the Earl of Dartmouth said to a colonial agent, " We 
cannot allow the Colonies to check, or discourage in 
any degree, a traffic so beneficial to the nation." 



20U 



THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 



In New York, too, the Dutch directed Peter Stuyve- 
sant to use every exertion to promote the sale of 
negroes. In 1670, the Duke of York was president of 




BIRTHPLACE OF SAMUEL WOODYVOKTH, SCITUATE, MASS. 

the "African Company," and patron of the slave 
trade. 

In 1 70 1, Boston directed its representatives to make 
efforts to put a period to negro bondage. Maryland, 
Virginia and Carolina had already discountenanced the 



JEFFERSON ON SLAVERY. ■ 201 

trade, and in 171 2, a petition for "the enlargement" of 
negro slaves was made to the Legislature of Pennsyl- 
vania. The petition was not listened to. The persist- 
ence of the British Government gave Thomas Jefferson * 
the reason for inserting in his original draft of the 
Declaration of Independence, the following words, 
which were omitted before the document was pre- 
sented to the House of Representatives. 

He [the king] has waged cruel war against human nature itself 
violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a 
distant people who never offended him, captivating them and carrying 
them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death 
in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium 
of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. 
Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and 
sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative 
attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce. And that 
this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished dye, he 
is now exciting those very people to rise in arms against us, and to 
purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the 
people on whom he also obtruded them ; thus paying off former crimes 
committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he 
urges them to commit against the lives of another. 

The settlements at Plymouth and Jamestown stand 
for two differing social forces which have been influ- 
ential all through our history. From the Massachu- 
setts settlement went out a stream of emigrants which 
was scattered throughout the West and the Northwest. 

* Speaking of the existence of slavery and its influence, Mr. Jefferson 
said, in 1781, " I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is 
just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever." He added, in view of 
a revolution on the part of the blacks, " The Almighty has no attri- 
bute which can take side with us in such a contest." Three years 
earlier he had said, " Nothing is more certainly written in the Book of 
Fate than that this people shall be free." After the freedom had 
become a fact, James A. Garfield said in the House of Representatives, 
February 12, TS67, " Sir, the hand of God has been visible in this work." 



202 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 

The South and Southwest were peopled by those who 
represented the aristocratic form of society. 

The people of New England were homogeneous in 
race and character. They belonged to the yeomanry, 
country gentlemen and small farmers of England, who 
sympathized with the Roundheads in the struggle with 
the Crown. Among these there were those who were 
recognized as belonging to the aristocracy, and some 
who possessed large estates, but the major part of the 
population belonged to the comfortable middle class, 
and they are typical of New England civilization. * 

The Virginians were aristocratic in their sympathies. 
They supported the established Church, and repre- 
sented the Cavalier element in English politics. They 
possessed both the virtues and the vices of an aristoc- 
racy. From them came George Washington, and they 

*An amusing illustration of the care with which rank was guarded 
in New England is found in the arrangements for "seating the meet- 
ing-house " so that each person should have his proper place. In Bev- 
erly, near Salem, Mass., an elaborate scheme was drawn up for this 
purpose by Colonel Robert Hale, before the year 1700, which may be 
taken as a sample. The following are a few of its stipulations. 

That every male be allowed one degree for every complete year of 
age he exceeds twenty-one. 

That he be allowed for a captain's commission twelve degrees, for 
a lieutenant's^ eight degrees, and for an ensign's, four degrees. 

That he be allowed three degrees for every shilling for real estate 
in the last parish tax, and one degree for personal estate and faculty. 

Every six degrees for estate and faculty of a parent alive, to make 
one degree among his sons, or where there is none, among the daugh 
ters that are seated. 

Every generation of predecessors heretofore living in this town, to 
make one degree for every male descendant that is seated. 

That the foremost Magistrate Seat, so called, shall be the highest 
in rank and the other three in successive order. 

That the next in rank shall be in the foremost of the front seats 
below, then the fore-seat in the front gallery, then the fore-seat in the 
side-gallery. 

On these principles nearly six hundred persons were seated, the 
women being separated from the men. 



VIRGINIA ARISTOCRATIC. 



205 



supplied the young republic with many of its leading 
spirits, but learning and cultivation were confined to 
a number comparatively small. The schools and col- 





AN AMERICAN SCHOOLHOUSE IN A PIONEER SETTLEMENT. 



leges were not equal to those of New England, and 
the people did not wish to have the same system of 
popular education. The men of Virginia were born 
politicians, the women were admirable wives and 
mothers, devoting themselves with care to their house- 
wifely duties. The other Southern colonies were in 
general framed on the Virginia model. South Carolina 
was even more aristocratic, there being but two 
classes, the planters and the slaves. The highest 
civilization in the South, take each State as a whole, 
was to be found in Virginia. Charleston was a cen- 
tre of much elegance and cultivation, but the rest of 
South Carolina was not equally well developed. 



206 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR KULEBS. 

James Madison wrote as late as 1774, of the social 
state of affairs in Virginia, " Poverty and luxury prevail 
among all sorts ; pride, ignorance and knavery among 
the priesthood, and vice and wickedness among the 
laity. This is bad enough, but it is not the worst I 
have to tell you. The diabolical, hell-conceived prin- 
ciple of persecution rages among some ; and, to their 
eternal infamy, the clergy can furnish their quota of 
imps for such business. This vexes me the most of 
anything whatever. There are at this time in the 
adjacent county not less than five or six well-meaning 
men in close jail for publishing their religious senti- 
ments, which in the main, are very orthodox." Per- 
secution was not confined to any region in America. 

In both the North and the South, the people inher- 
ited the original Teutonic notion of the formation of 
the community, but it was put into practice in New 
England as it was not in the other Colonies. 

In the New England village, town or city may still 
be seen the " common " land which all the inhabitants 
have the privilege of using, and in the early history of 
the founding of the Colonies it will be noted that the 
family was the unit ; that the settlements began as 
organized towns, which though bereft now of their 
communal traits, still stand as representatives of the 
old town system described by Tacitus as existing 
among the Germanic tribes eighteen centuries ago. 
They are self-governing, holding meetings of all the 
inhabitants, and providing for all local needs. In the 
other States the towns did not thus form the starting 
point for the State, but were formed by slow aggre- 
gations of individuals, whereas in New England they 
sprang into existence as organized political facts. 



" THE VULGARITY OF TOWNS. 



207 



The Southern gentleman, like his English proto- 
type, did not like to live in the populous town. As a 
late Southern writer well says, " The predominant 
tastes of the South were, from the beginning, English ; 




AN ERRING YOUNG COLONIST. 



and an Englishman is a rural animal to the very mar- 
row of his bones ; . . . . with this ingrained tradition 
and prejudice, the first settlers of Virginia and Carolina 
paid little attention to the building of towns and 
cities ; and to this day all out-and-out Southerners have 
a smothered contempt for what they are pleased to 



208 



THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 




WASHINGTON'S HOME AT MOUXT VKKNON. 



call 'the vulgarity of towns.' ' This it was that 
retarded the development of the South in letters, 
though its upper classes were highly educated in arts 
and manufactures, and even in agriculture itself. 

The place of the town was imperfectly supplied in 
some of the States by the vestry, or the plantation, and 
the people of Virginia actually tried to legislate towns 
into existence, by passing a law (1680) commanding- 
each county to lay out one. 

Seven of the original Colonies began under propri- 
etors. They were New York, Pennsylvania, Dela- 
ware, the Carolinas, Maryland and New Jersey. Of 
these, four, New York, New Jersey and the Carolinas, 
became eventually royal provinces, and Maryland at 
a time was in the same state. Three of the Colo- 



THE OLD NEW YORKERS. 209 

nies, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, 
were settled under charters which were never sur- 
rendered. Three others, Virginia, Georgia and New 
Hampshire, possessed charters for awhile, but event- 
ually became royal provinces. 

In the proprietary governments, the proprietors 
were supreme, excepting, of course, their subjection to 
the sovereign, who appointed the Governors, con- 
trolled the assemblies, and received the moneys 
raised by taxation.* 

The people were more free in the Colonies possess- 
ing a charter, and hence the persistence with which in 

* " The population of New York," says Irving, " was more varied in 

its elements than that of almost any other of the Provinces The New 

Yorkers were of a mixed origin, and stamped with the peculiarities of 
their respective ancestors. The descendants of the old Dutch and 
Huguenot families, the earliest settlers, were still among the soundest 
and best of the population. [At the beginning of the Revolution.] 
They inherited the love of liberty, civil and religious, of their fore- 
fathers, and were those who stood foremost in the present struggle for 
popular rights. Such were the Jays, the Bensons, the Beekmans, the 
Hoffmans, the Van Homes, the Roosevelts, the Duyckinks, the Pint- 
ards, the Yateses, and others whose names figure in the patriotic docu- 
ments of the day. Some of them, doubtless, cherished a remembrance 
of the time when their forefathers were lords of the land, and felt an 
innate propensity to join in resistance to the government by which 
their supremacy had been overturned. A great proportion of the more 
modern families, dating from the downfall of the Dutch Government 
in 1664, were English and Scotch, and among these were many loyal 
adherents to the Crown. Then there was a mixture of the whole, produced 
by the intermarriages of upwards of a century, which partook of every 
shade of character and sentiment. The operations of foreign com- 
merce,, and the regular communications with the Mother-Country, 
through packets and ships of war, kept these elements in constant 
action, and contributed to produce that mercuria temperament, that 
fondness for excitement, and proneness to pleasure, which distinguished 
them from their neighbors on either side — the austere Puritans of 
New England, and the quiet Friends of Pennsylvania." 



210 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 

some instances they resisted efforts to deprive them 
of those documents. All the settlers professed, and 
most of them really acted upon the principle of 
allegiance to the Crown ; but there was much diversity 
of opinion as to the exact limits of the royal preroga- 
tive, and the amount of freedom of action left to the 
people. This it was which eventually brought about 
the irrepressible conflict between the home powers 
and the colonists. 

The Restoration developed this opposition in Massa- 
chusetts so distinctly, that it was said in 1671, that 
the State was almost on the brink of renouncing all 
dependence on the Crown. The struggle between 
Massachusetts and Charles II. lasted for a quarter of 
a century. The accession of that monarch was not 
proclaimed in the Colony at the time of the Restora- 
tion, but it was at last, and the king was asked to 
confirm the charter. He did this, but in a manner 
which might well have appeared to the people of 
Massachusetts to undermine the foundations of their 
social fabric. He demanded that the oath of allegiance 
to the Crown should be exacted, the Book of Common 
Prayer should be tolerated, and that others than 
church members should be admitted as freemen. 

The king did not at first insist upon compliance 
with his wishes, but in 1664, four royal commissioners 
arrived in Boston, sent to reduce to obedience the 
refractory Puritans, and also to take possession of 
New Amsterdam in the name of the Duke of York. 
After a conference with the authorities, the commis- 
sioners went to New Amsterdam, which surrendered 
to them, August 29, 1664.* By this move and 

* See page 130. 



INDEPENDEN T MA SSA CH U SETTS. 211 

the surrender of Fort Orange (Albany), and the 
territory of New Jersey and Long Island, the union 
of the colonies of New Haven and Connecticut was 
enforced, for though New Haven had been included in 
the royal charter of Connecticut (1662), it had never 
consented to be united to that Colony. The union 
was concluded in January, 1665, Hartford and New 
Haven being the capitals, an arrangement which con- 
tinued in force until 1875. The commissioners went 
afterwards to Maine and to Rhode Island, and were 
finally recalled, having effected nothing towards reduc- 
ing the independent spirit of Massachusetts. 

The war with King Philip ensued,* and after that 
attempts to subdue the insubordinate colonists were 
renewed. In 1684 the charter was annulled, no other 
means appearing sufficient, and a royal Governor was 
about to be sent over, when King Charles died, and a 
different person was sent by his successor, James II. 
In i686 ( Sir Edmund Andros f arrived, commissioned 
as Governor-General of New England. He had been 
Governor of New York from 1674 to 1681, and he 
subsequently became Governor of Virginia, holding 
the latter office from 1692 to 1698. 

* See page 168. 

1 Andros was a native of London, born December 6, 1637. He first 
came to America in 1674, as Governor of New York, and to him Sir 
Anthony Colve, who had held that office for a few months, surrendered. 
In 1688, New York and New Jersey were added to New England, and 
the rule of Andros extended over them. Upon the Revolution of 
16S8, in England, the people of Boston imprisoned Andros, and Jacob 
Leisler led a revolt against Francis Nicholson, who was Lieutenant- 
Governor, in New York. Andros was sent to England for trial, but 
escaped it, and in 1692, came back as Governor of Virginia, where he 
was more popular. He retired in 1698, and in 1704, was made Gover- 
nor of Guernsey. He died February 24, 17 14. 



212 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 

In New York and Virginia Andros ruled with com- 
parative justice. Though estimable in his private 
relations, he was always despotic in the administration 
of public affairs, like the Stuarts, his master. But he 
infused a new life into the Colony of New York, man- 
aged to draw the Five Nations from their allegiance to 
the French, and in Virginia he fostered William and 
Mary College, the charter of which he brought with him, 
advanced the postal service, preserved the colonial 
records, encouraged the domestic manufactures, and 
introduced the raising of cotton, turning the attention 
of the planters from the impoverishing cultivation 
of tobacco. 

The government of Andros lasted in Massachusetts 
two years and a quarter. Then the people were 
strengthened by the news of the revolution of 1688, 
to rise in their might and put him for a while in 
prison, establishing a Provisional Government. 

Andros had been sent over as Governor-General of 
the Colonies of New England, but in 1686 Rhode 
Island, and in 1688, New York* and New Jersey 
were added to his dominion, making the territory of 
New England extend from the River St. Croix to 
Delaware Bay. The authority for this act rested 
upon the discovery of the Cabots. Under that, the 
sovereign had claimed the northern portion of America, 
had made grants to the " Council for New England," 
under which settlements had been established, and 
upon the dissolution of the council, the Governor and 
Company of the Massachusetts Bay had obtained 

* The seal of New York was formally broken, and that of New Eng- 
land substituted for it at this time. 



ARBITRARY ANDROS. 



213 



a part of the territory. The charter of that corpora- 
„ tion having been declared null 

and void, all its privileges were 
rendered nugatory, and among 
these was the right to transfer 
lands. The king therefore held 
that all lands had fallen to him, 
and his Governor proceeded to 
act upon the claim. The colony 
was considered to be in the posi 
tion of a conquered kingdom, 




THE OLD SOUTH CHUECH, BOSTON. 



the people of which had, of course, no rights in the 
Magna Charta. Theoretically, no better foundation 



214 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULEBS, 

was needed for the despotism which James II., and 
Andros his tool, desired to establish. 

One of the first offensive steps of Andros was 
demanding the use of a "meeting-house " for the ser- 
vices of the Established Church. He was put off until 
Good Friday was approaching, when he demanded 
the use of the " Old South meeting-house." Despite 
the refusal which he met, the services were actually 
held there, and continued to be held, on Sundays and 
holidays. This the Governor considered a positive 
gain to his cause. He interferred with the freedom 
of the press, levied great taxes throughout the Colo- 
nies, and demanded heavy payments from owners of 
lands for new titles to them. 

Connecticut refused to recognize the authority of 
Andros, and, after some fruitless negotiation, he 
went to Hartford, where, on the last day of October, 
1687, he met the Governor and assistants, in order to 
assert his authority personally. It is said that the 
colonial charter was brought into the room during 
the conference. The lights were suddenly extin- 
guished, and after they were lighted again, the charter 
was not to be found, Captain Joseph Wadsworth hav- 
ing in the brief interval taken it to a short distance, 
and hidden it in a hollow oak.* The next day the 
"annexation" was effected, the secretary closing the 

*No contemporary writing alludes to the hiding of the charter in 
this way in the oak, but in May, 17 15, a sum of money was granted to 
Captain Wadsworth, by the General Court, for "securing the duplicate 
charter in a very troublesome season, when our Constitution was 
struck at, and in safely keeping and preserving the same ever since 
unto this day," and the almost inevitable inference is, that the hiding 
of the charter is alluded to. 



THE END OF AN BROS. 



■1 If. 



records of the General Court with a simple account 
of the circumstances and the word "Finis." 

The "end" die' not come immediately, however, 




THE COLONIAL SHOEMAKEB's 1NFKEQUENT VISIT. 



for the tyranny of Andros aroused so much indigna- 
tion that, when the news of the landing of William 
of Orange, in England, reached Boston, the Gov- 
ernor was seized and thrown into prison, though the 
messenger who brought the information had been 
himself imprisoned by Andros, immediately upon his 



216 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR RULERS. 

arrival. The tyrannical Governor under restraint, the 
people took the reins into their own hands, declaring 
that they committed their "enterprise to Him who 
hears the cries of the oppressed," and calling upon 
the other colonists to join in prayers, and "all just 
actions for the defence of the land." A General 
Court was elected and began its sessions in May, 
1689, as under the old charter. Similar action was 
taken in Rhode Island, at Plymouth, and in Connecti- 
cut, the Colonial Charter was taken from its hiding- 
place, and new chapters were begun in the Public 
Records after the "finis " of 1687.* This was a Prot- 
estant revolution in England, and it was a grand 
movement in favor of Protestant liberty in America. 
Boston was its starting-place, but its influence was 
limited only by the extent of the Colonies. It was 
the last great revolution in England, and on our Con- 
tinent it was the precursor of all the movements in 
favor of enfranchisement that have followed since. 

* The Massachusetts Colony had eight Governors before the arrival 
of Anclros, in 16S6: John Winthrop, 1630-33, 1637-39, 1642-43, 
1646-48; Thomas Dudley, 1634, 1640, 1645, I 65o; John Haynes, 1635; 
Henry Vane, 1636; Richard Bellingham, 1641, 1654, 1665-72; John 
Endicott, 1644, 1649, 1651—53, 1655-64; John Leverett, 1663-78; 
Simon Bradstreet, 1679-86. 

The Colony of Connecticut had also eight Governors from 1639 to 
1687 : To 1655, John Haynes and Edward Hopkins occupied the 
office (most of the time alternately), except that in 1642, George Wyll ys 
was chosen for one year; in 1655, Thomas Wells was Governor, and 
again in 1658; John Webster followed in 1656; John Winthrop, in 
1657, and serving after Thomas Wells, from 1659 to 1675 ; William 
Leete followed from 1676 to 1682 ; and Robert Treat, from 1683 to '87. 

The Colony of New Haven had but three Governors before its union 
with Connecticut : Theophilus Eaton, 1643-57 ; Francis Newman 
1658-60; and William Lette, from 1661 to 1667. 



CHAPTER XL 



LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 



T was now settled that 
not the French nor the 
Spanish, but the English 
should mould the destinies 
of the New World ; but the 
settlers who had left their 
homes in the Mother-Coun- 
try, had begun to feel that it 
would not always be theirs 
to look over seas for laws 
and government. Outside 
observers had likewise seen, 
perhaps more clearly than 
the settlers themselves, that 
a separation would come in 
time between the Colonies 
and England. In 1750, 
Anne Robert Jacques Tur- 
got, * then prior of the Sor- 
bonne at Paris, in an essay 
on The Progress of the Human Mind, said, " Colonies 
are like fruits, which hold to the tree only until their 

* It was this Turgot who inscribed under a portrait of Franklin, the 
epigram, " Eripuii ctzlo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis." ( He snatched 
lightning from Heaven, and the sceptre from the tyrant. ) 

217 




218 



LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 



maturity ; when sufficient for themselves, they do 
that which Carthage once did, that which some day 
America will do." Both Washington and Jefferson 
said that before 1775, they had never heard so much 
as a whisper of a desire to separate from the Mother- 
Country, and yet the Colonies were gradually learn- 




ing that there was strength for them in union, and 
that as their circumstances widely differed, so also 
their interests were not the same with those of Eng- 
land, and it was only necessary that they should have 
mutual grievances to bring them to make a common 
cause against her. * 

* John Adams said, after peace had been declared, " There was not 
a moment during the Revolution, when I would not have given every- 
thing I possessed for a restoration to the state of things before the 
contest began, provided we could have had a sufficient security for 
its continuance." Mr Madison said, that in his opinion the real 
object of every class of people in the war was the reestablishment of 
the colonial relations as they had been before the trouble began, and 
that independence was sought only after this was despaired of. 



NEW ENGLAND UNITES. 219 

They had felt the necessity of union as long ago as 
1637, when, as we have seen, the league of the New 
England settlements had been proposed, but not car- 
ried out, in consequence of a difference between 
Connecticut and Massachusetts as to their relative 
importance in such a federation. From that day to 
this, there has been the same controversy about the 
relative rights of members of the federation, and 
the amount of power reserved by each member for 
independent action. There has always been a discus- 
sion of the centralization of power and of State rights. 
Connecticut gave way to Massachusetts, and in 1643, 
that State found itself at the head of a confederacy 
called "The United Colonies of New England." 
Rhode Island was left out of the league ; there was 
strife between the members themselves, and they 
showed that they were "united," principally when 
there were acts of violence to be done or resisted. 
The league expired after a feeble life of a half century. 
The last meeting was held at Hartford, September 5, 
1684. Still there was a meagre union in the Post- 
office department, established by the home govern- 
ment in 1 7 10. Letters were taken from Portsmouth 
to Philadelphia regularly, but towns to the inland, and 
those off this line of travel, were very solitary. They 
had to depend upon chance opportunities for corre- 
spondence, and as there were no wheeled vehicles in 
use away from the seaboard before the Revolution, 
travel was effected on horseback, and produce was 
carried on sleds in winter and on oxcarts in summer. 

Danger led to the first American Congress. It 
was called by Massachusetts in 1690, at the time 
when the people were breathing more freely after the 



220 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

imprisonment of Andros, and just after the destruc- 
tion of Schenectady had warned the Colonies of the 
danger to be expected from the French and their 
Indian allies. It was this Congress which planned 
the conquest of Canada. All the Colonies from 
Maine to Maryland were invited to send delegates. 
The practical results were not great, but the Colo- 
nies had taken another step towards self-govern- 
ment. 

The next indication of progress in this direction is 
shown by the proposition made to the London Board 
of Trade, by William Penn, in 1697, that there should 
be an annual Congress of twenty members chosen by 
the Colonial Legislatures (with a president appointed 
by the king), to regulate commerce ; but it had no 
results until it had been vitalized by Benjamin Frank- 
lin, in 1754, though in 1722 Daniel Coxe of New Jer- 
sey had broached a similar plan. Here, again, it was 
fear of the Indians which drove the colonists to take 
measures for self protection. The French and their 
Indian allies were menacing the West. They had 
in April, 1754, established themselves at Fort Du 
Ouesne, and on the twenty-fifth of that month, had 
occurred the battle* in which Washington made his 
name known, and, as Bancroft says, by his " word of 
command kindled the world into a flame." He had 
been for the first time in action ; had been successful, 
and in the excitement of his youthful ardor had written 
that there was something charming in the whistling 
of the bullets as they flew about him. He was not so 
greatly enamored with military life, however, as to be 
hindered from retiring to Mount Vernon and the agri- 
* At Great Meadows, on the Youghiogheny. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



221 



cultural pursuits of peace, at the end of the year, 
though he was immediately recalled by his native 
State to take part in the campaign of 1755. 

Benjamin Franklin, who has been well called "the 
mcarnated common 
sense " of the period, 
was son of parents 
who had sought in 
Boston, freedom 
from the disabilities 
which encompassed 
non-conformists i n 
England, and in that 
town he was born, 
January 17, 1706, the 
youngest son in a 
family of seventeen. 
He had been in Eng- 
land, had made the 
best of the advantage for getting wisdom from men, 
and books that had sparingly fallen to his lot, had 
written and printed much, and had proved himself a 
valuable public counsellor. He had founded the 
University of Pennsylvania, and the American Philo- 
sophical Society, had invented the stove which still 
bears his name, had begun his investigations in 
electricity, and invented the lightning rod, and had 
occupied the office of deputy Postmaster-general for 
America. Both Yale and Harvard Colleges had 
honored themselves by giving him the degree of 
Master of Arts. 

After the defeat of Braddock, against whose disas- 
trous expedition he had remonstrated, Franklin took 




BENJAMIN FliANKLIX S r,TI{TIIPI,A< E. 



222 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

the field as commander of the Volunteer Militia 
which he had been the means of organizing, and 
would have been appointed to more important com- 
mands, had he not distrusted his military capacity, 
and returned to his scientific pursuits. In 1 757^ 
however, he was sent by the people of Pennsylvania 
to petition the Crown for redress from the measures 
of the proprietors. His mission was successful. He 
returned home in 1762, having received the highest 
academic degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge, on 
account of his scientific labors, and having been 
equally honored by the Government for his stateman- 
ship. In 1764 he was again called to perform a diplo- 
matic service, this time being commissioned to ask 
that the State be permitted to take its affairs into its 
own hands. He did not return until the spring 
of 1775, having spent the most critical years which 
intervened in the performance of duties invaluable to 
his countrymen. 

The next step towards the present union was taken 
in 175 1, and by an officer of the Crown, Archibald 
Kennedy, Receiver-General of New York, who sug- 
gested through the press, an annual meeting of com- 
missioners from all the Colonies, at New York or 
Albany ; proposing that the system should be author- 
ized and enforced by an act of Parliament. In March, 
1752, an anonymous letter appeared in a Philadelphia 
paper, attributed by Bancroft to Franklin, in which 
the writer avers that a voluntary union would be pref- 
erable to one imposed by the British Government, 
and says that it would be strange if Six Nations of 
ignorant savages should be capable of forming a 
scheme for such an union, and able to carry it out, 



ENGLAND FAVORS AMERICAN UNION. 223 

and yet " that a like union should be impracticable for 
ten or a dozen Colonies, to whom it is more necessary, 
and must be more advantageous." 

In 1754, when war was opening between England 
and France, a feeling grew up in England that the 
American Colonies should do something for them- 
selves in a united way. It was the year before the 
final struggle between the French and English for 
supremacy on the American Continent. After the 
peace of 1748, the Ohio Company had begun its set- 
tlements (1749), and these had been assailed by the 
French and Indians. The Governor of South Caro- 
lina suggested a meeting of all the governors, to 
decide how many men each Colony should contribute 
for the campaign on the Ohio ; but the Governor of 
Virginia retorted that the assembly of his dominion 
would be guided only by its free determinations. The 
Colonies were, in fact, all reluctant to grant funds for 
the protection of the English settlers from the 
assaults of the French and the Indians, though all 
began to demand some sort of a union. Accordingly 
a convention was held at Albany, June 19, 1754, at 
which New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut,' Mas- 
sachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Maryland 
were represented. The object was to take measures 
for mutual defence, and to treat with the Six 
Nations and the Indians allied to them. It was the 
most venerable assembly that America had yet seen, 
and every voice was for union. After peace had been 
effected with the representatives of the Six Nations, 
on the tenth of July, Franklin offered his plan for a 
Perpetual Union — a compromise between preroga- 
tive and popular power — which was read article 



224 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

by article. It contemplated a council, elected trienni- 
ally to meet annually, which only would originate 
bills, and a governor-general, appointed by the king, 
with the veto power, and authority to appoint military 
officers. The council was to regulate trade, make 
war or peace, raise armies, make laws, levy taxes, and 
establish and govern new settlements, but not inter- 
fere with the domestic affairs of each Colony. The 
seat of government was to be Philadelphia, which, 
it was thought, that New Hampshire or South Caro- 
lina could reach in fifteen or twenty days. So 
jealous was each of the Colonies of its rights, that 
the plan was not acceptable to them. 

The delegates from New England had previously 
been Franklin's most firm supporters, and yet New 
York but slightly favored the plan; Massachusetts 
charged her agent to oppose it, and Connecticut 
rejected it. Still the feeling of the people at large 
was in favor of Franklin, and as he took his way from 
Albany he was welcomed as the founder of an Amer- 
ican union. 

Quite a different plan of union was that proposed 
by George Montagu Dunk, second (and last) Earl 
Halifax, then at the head of the English Board of 
Trade. It opposed the "levelling principles" of the 
Colonies, so much feared in England, and, in spite of 
the colonial charters, would have made orders by the 
king law for America. It would have reduced any dis- 
obedient or neglectful province, for the people were 
esteemed even then " an obstinate, self-opinionated, 
stubborn generation." England thought that the 
coercion demanded by the colonial governors was 
needed, but she hesitated before applying it. 



TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. 225 

Meanwhile Governor William Shirley, at Boston, 
(the same who had planned the capture of Louisburg, 
1745, and removed the Acadians, 1755) submitted to 
Franklin a new scheme for union. He would have 
had an American Congress, composed of gDvernors 
and delegates empowered to draw on the home treas- 
ury for funds for defence, Parliament being authorized 
to reimburse itself by levying taxes on the Colon- 
ies. Franklin argued against such a Congress com- 
posed of members largely under royal orders, and 
denied the right of taxation without representation.* 
Nevertheless Shirley urged upon his government 
the necessity of " A Parliamentary union," and of 
taxation, and was supported in his arguments by offi- 
cers of the Crown in every Colony, and it is not to be 
wondered at that the ministry was led to adopt the 

* For a half-century the " independent spirit " of the people, and 
especially of those of Boston (though South Carolina had not been 
least among those who assumed the management of their own affairs 
in their own way), and the governors, loyal tools of the sovereign, 
had often come in conflict with it. The people of Massachusetts, in 
1728, refused to vote the Governor a permanent salary, and they even 
went so far as to refuse Governor Belcher any support whatever, in 
1731, when he opposed their will, and in 1740, the removal of Belcher 
was asked and obtained. In 1748, Governor Clinton, of New York, 
was in trouble regarding the same matter, and appealed to the Board 
of Trade to make " a good example for all America," meaning that a tax 
should be levied to provide for the civil list; but as late as 1755 
orders were sent to New York not to press the establishment of a per- 
manent revenue " for the present." 

It is worthy of note here, as indicative of the progress of opinion, that 
Peter Kalm, a Swedish traveller, wrote in 1748, that "oppressions" 
and "restrictions " had made " the inhabitants of the English Colonics 
feel less tender toward the Mother Land," and that he had been told 
by native Americans and English emigrants, that " within thirty or 
forty years the English Colonies in North America may constitute £ 
separate State, entirely independent of England." 



226 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

plan that Halifax insisted upon to ease the Mother 
Country, by a stamp tax and an import duty. 

The English " Board of Trade," unlike the organiza- 
tions bearing the same name in America, is a depart- 
ment of the government. It seems to have originated 
with Oliver Cromwell, who, in 1655, appointed his 
son Richard and many other persons, to meet and con- 
sider by what means the trade of the nation might 
best be promoted. In 1660, Charles II. erected two 
councils, of Trade and Plantations, which were soon 
combined. They were abolished in 1675, but re- 
established in 1695, and finally abolished in 1782. 
Edmund Burke satirized it at first as "A showy and 
specious imposition," and afterwards "a job to quiet 
the minds of the people," at a time of depressed 
trade (1695), and as being perhaps "the only instance 
of a public body which has never degenerated." As 
at present constituted, the Board of Trade performs 
important functions. It was re-constituted in 1786. 

It was this body which was destined to excite the 
American people to assert their right to indepen- 
dence, for it was commercial interference that first 
made the colonists dissatisfied with the Mother 
Country.* In 1733 duties had (under the so-called 
" Sugar Law ") been laid on molasses, sugar and rum 

* England was ever jealous of American manufactures and inven- 
tions, and after the War of 1812, her merchants were encouraged 
1 1 send goods to the United Sates to be sold at auction, Lord 
Brougham saying in Parliament that it was worth while to incur 
losses on the first exportations, in order by glut to stifle in the 
cradle the rising manufactures that the war had forced into existence 
contrary to the natural course of events. The introduction into 
America of new machinery, however, saved American industry from 
beine "stifled in the cradle." 



JAMES OTIS REPRESENTS BOSTON. 227 

imported from any but the British West India Islands, 
and the Government had prohibited the exportation 
of hats, and the erection of rolling-mills and steel 
furnaces. These acts had been the result of a wide- 
spread feeling in England that it was bankrupt, the 
war with France having brought the debt to enor- 
mous proportions, and America having been the great- 
est acquisition, it was determined to make her pay a 
part of the amount. The value of property in Eng- 
land had increased one half, and it was due, Mr. Pitt 
declared, to the American Colonies. 

The customs' duties were felt by the colonists to be 
onerous, and they became difficult to collect. This 
led, in 1761, to the "Writs of Assistance," under 
which search could be made for contraband goods in 
warehouse or dwelling, by the officer of the customs, 
or any one employed by him. This was resented by 
the colonists as an infringement of their rights as 
members of the British nation, and thought to be an 
indication that the ministry did not consider that sub- 
jects of the Crown in America possessed an equality 
of rights with those in England. The customs' offi- 
cers called upon James Otis, then Advocate-General, 
to support them in their application for these writs, 
in a trial which was to take place in the old Town 
House in Boston, in February, 1761, but he resigned 
his lucrative position rather than do it, and repre- 
sented the citizens of Boston, who had presented a 
counter-plea. The case came on before the five 
judges of the Superior Court, Lieutenant-Governor 
Hutchinson being chief justice. John Adams, in his 
account of the affair, says that Otis was " a flame 
of fire," and " hurried away all before him." "American 



228 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

Independence was then and there bomy Every man 
seemed to be ready to take up arms against the 
writs. 

Hutchinson announced the opinion of the court, 
saying that he could see no foundation for such writs, 
and though he subsequently decided that they were 
legal, nothing more was heard of them. This speech 
of Mr. Otis, and the excitement it occasioned, form an 
epoch in our history, and Mr. Adams said that the 
oration "breathed into this nation the breath of life." 

At the time that Massachusetts was thus excited 
by the Writs of Assistance, Virginia was stirred by 
the urgency with which the Board of Trade insisted 
on stimulating traffic in slaves. Virginia determined 
to suppress the importation of Africans by a prohib- 
itory duty, and in the Legislature, Richard Henry Lee 
made his first recorded speech on this subject. He 
depicted in strong colors the moral and political dan- 
gers which were likely to overcome the old Common- 
wealth if the servile class was continually increased, 
nor did he neglect to show the barbarity of the trade ; 
and he drew from history dread tales of servile 
insurrections. He was rewarded by the passage of 
the bill, though it was by a majority of but one vote. 
Like all similiar acts of the Americans, this was 
vetoed by the powers at home. 

South Carolina was likewise alarmed by the 
increase of the black population, bat the English 
Government would permit no interference there with 
its policy for the importation of slaves. New York 
was disturbed by the appointment of a judge to hold 
office during the king's pleasure, instead of during 
good behavior, as had been and still is the custom. 



THE WRITS OF ASSISTANCE. 229 

This was a step in the direction of despotism, and 
William Livingston gained much applause by 
emphasizing the truth that all authority should be 
derived from the people. The judge thus appointed 
reported that affairs had reached a crisis in New 
York. Thus did the discontent of the colonists, 
though chiefly stimulated by acts of trade, gain in 
strength in the different Colonies, from various 
reasons. Everywhere the acts of the agents of the 
Crown were scrutinized with care, and the slightest 
infringement of the rights of the colonists was re- 
sented with pertinacity and spirit. More and more 
plainly did the people of the different plantations see 
that they had a common interest, and that it was 
their best policy to unite in their counsels and their 
acts. 

The excitement in America caused by the Writs 
of Assistance was not unlike that which broke out 
in England in 1763, on the close of the Seven Years' 
War, on the subject of General Warrants, which were 
not very different in their nature. All England was 
then stirred by the cry," Wilkes and Liberty ! " which 
arose on the publication of trenchant articles published 
by John Wilkes in a paper called the North Briton. 
George III., one of the most narrow-minded of all the 
long line of English kings, came to the throne in 
1760, with the proud design of making himself an 
autocrat. His long reign did not end until 1820, 
after the American Colonies had won their inde- 
pendence and had a second time successfully come 
into conflict with the British Government. It was 
not unnatural that the reign of such a monarch should 
open with storms. The greatest and best ministers 



230 LOOKING TO]VARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

could not work peacefully under the restraints he put 
upon them.* A more reasonable sovereign might 
have made peace with the Colonies, and America 
might possibly have been a dependency of Great 
Britain, but for the rash unreason of George III. 

At a moment when William Pitt, the friend of 
America, was ill in bed, an act was passed in Parli- 
ament levying a stamp duty on the Colonies. It 
received the formal assent of the then insane king, 
through a commission, on the twenty-second of March, 
1765. In the course of the debate on this bill, Isaac 
Barre, a member of Parliament, delivered a celebrated 
speech in reply to Charles Townshend, who had 
declared that the American Colonies had been 
planted by British care, nourished by British indul- 
gence, and protected by British arms. Barre said, 
" They planted by your care ! No ; your oppression 
planted them in America. . . . They nourished by 

* The British ministry did not at this time represent the sentiments 
of the people, and Parliament was unpopular (though nearly all the 
intellect in it was opposed to the American War, including Burke, 
Fox, Dunning and Pitt), and the steps which were taken adverse to the 
American Colonies must not be attributed to the English people. The 
ministers at that time were, John Stuart, Earl of Bute (a former tutor 
of the king and very influential with him), from May, 1762, to April, 
1763; George Grenville, to July, 1765; Charles Wentworth, Marquess 
of Rockingham, to August, 1766; William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, to 
July, 1767 ; Augustus Henry, Duke of Grafton, to January, 1770; and 
Frederick, Lord North, to March 30, 17S2. The Bute administration 
was very unpopular, and that of Grenville was thought by Macaulay 
the worst since the Revolution. Grafton was the minister assailed by 
"Junius." The administrations of Rockingham and Chatham were 
comparatively liberal. Lord North was a favorite of George III., and 
of Parliament. He supported the " Stamp Act" in 1765; proposed 
the duty on tea in 1773; and the Boston Port Bill in 1774, and prose- 
cuted the American War with pertinacity. 



THE STAMP ACT. 281 

your indulgence ! they grew up by your neglect of 
them .... They protected by your arms ! they have 
nobly taken up arms in your defence ! " This speech 
was circulated throughout the Colonies before summer 
had scarcely opened, and the name " Sons of Liberty," 
which Barre had given to the Americans, was adopted 
by the patriots with enthusiasm. 

The Stamp Duty had been threatened and the col- 
onists looked forward to it with the intensest interest. 
Benjamin Franklin was then in London bearing a 
remonstrance against it, and he labored indefatigably 
to prevent its passage, stigmatizing it as unconstitu- 
tional as well as impolitic. After it had passed, he 
counselled submission, but the colonists did not sym- 
pathize with him. They felt with another American 
in London, that they must "unite," or "bid farewell 
to liberty." Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, calmly 
but forcibly said, " The ways of Providence are in- 
scrutable. This step of the Mother-Country, though 
intended to secure our dependence, may produce a 
fatal resentment and be subversive of that end." 
George Washington, then one of the Burgesses of 
Virginia, characterized it as an unconstitutional 
method of taxation. 

The arrival of the packet bearing the news was 
looked for with intense interest, but the people did 
not wait for it before expressing their sentiments. 
The Legislature of Virginia met in May, and on the 
thirtieth of the month passed resolutions, framed by 
Patrick Henry, and supported by him with his impas- 
sioned eloquence, denying that British freedom was 
consistent with taxation without representation. 
The messenger who carried these resolutions to 



2o"J LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

Massachusetts, passed on the road another bearing to 
Carolina and Virginia an invitation from Massachusetts 
to a Continental Congress. The town of Boston,* 
inspired by the substantial eloquence of Samuel Adams, 
had expressed itself in similar terms to those employed 
by Virginia, claiming as a British birthright the right 
to levy its own taxes. The Massachusetts legislature, 
at its meeting" in June, and under the guidance of 
Adams and Otis, adopted the principles recommended 
by Boston, and a committee of five was appointed, 
who sent a circular letter to the other Colonies, calling 
for united action in behalf of threatened rights, f 

When the packet reached New York, in June, the 
people were intensely excited. Robert Livingston 
declared the tax to be the beginning of evils, and 
announced that his State would join with her neigh- 
bors, depending for support " on the God of Heaven." 
The people were prepared to dress in homespun, to 
stimulate the raising of flax and the production 

* Boston made a deep impression upon the popular mind abroad. 
" It was, indeed, by the name of Bostonian," says Mr. Breck, " that all 
Americans were known in France then [17S0]. The war having 
broken out in Boston, and the first great battle fought in its neighbor- 
hood, gave to that name universal celebrity. I remember a song that 
was in fashion [in Paris], the chorus of which was : 

Bon, bon, bon 

Cest h Boston 

Qii'on ejiit'iid soufle les canons. 

"Coffee houses took that name, and a game invented at that time 
played with cards, was called ' Boston,' and is to-dav exceedingly fash- 
ionable at Paris by that appellation." 

t In October, 1764, New York appointed the first Committee of Cor- 
respondence. Henry B. Dawson: "New York during the American 
Revolution," p. 41. 



"ALL OF US AMERICANS!" ^33 

of wool, to use no imported products, and to resent 
the new imposition in the most positive manner. 
They agreed with Oxenbridge Thacher, of Massachu- 
setts, that connection with England was no blessing, 
if it involved the imposition of unconstitutional bur- 
dens. In the ardor of their desire to encourage 
home manufactures, the people of Boston generally 
signed an agreement to eat no lamb, in order that 
more wool might be produced. In the discussion of the 
call for a Congress in South Carolina, it was the voice 
of Christopher Gadsden, that caused the State to 
pronounce for union. Mr. Bancroft says, " Thus 
revolution proceeded. Virginia marshalled resistance, 
Massachusetts entreated union, New York pointed to 
independence," and yet, "had it not been for South 
Carolina, no Congress would then have happened." 

The Congress met at New York, on Monday, 
October 7, 1765, Virginia and North Carolina only 
being absent and silent. The body adjourned on the 
twenty-fifth, having made a " Declaration of Rights," 
based (at the suggestion of South Carolina) not upon 
charters from the Crown, but upon the common rights 
of Englishmen, and resolved that there ought to be 
no longer " New England men," nor " New Yorkers," 
but " all of us Americans." This was the act of 
all of the Colonies, for, though New Hampshire 
and Georgia had not sent delegates, they had agreed 
to abide the decision of the others, and the absent 
ones did not lack sympathy with the cause. 

The result of this action was, that at the risk of 
stopping the business of the country, the people re- 
fused to use the stamped paper, and it was seized and 
burned as it arrived, the stamp distributors were 



234 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

forced to resign, and consequently the act was repealed 
the next year, August 18, after a fervent debate in 
which Edmund Burke had made his maiden speech, 
and the voice of Pitt had been heard saying, " I re- 
joice that America has resisted." In the same de- 
bate Grenville had said, with truth, perhaps, "The 
Stamp Act is but the pretext of which they make use 
to arrive at independence." The House of Commons 
had examined Franklin, and he had declared that 
America could not and would not pay the stamp tax, 
even if it were reduced. 

Upon the receipt of the news in Boston there was 
great rejoicing. Resistance to the act had begun 
under the "Liberty Tree" (where the effigy of 
Oliver, the stamp distributor, had been hung), which 
was now decorated and illuminated with lanterns, the 
houses about it too, were bright with lights, and bore 
illuminated figures of Pitt, Camden and Barre. The 
church bells rang, and all those imprisoned for debt 
were liberated by subscription. Especially was Pitt 
honored as the champion of liberty. 

Good feeling was, however, not restored, for Par- 
liament had expressly declared its supremacy over 
the Colonies at the time that it repealed the Stamp 
Act, and it proceeded to impose (May, 1767) duties 
upon tea and other imported articles, for the purpose 
of paying the royal judges, governors and soldiers. 
These taxes were to be imposed after November 20, 
1767. The "Sugar Act," and the "Mutiny Act," 
were still in force also, and by these the people were 
plainly assured that the policy of the Crown had suf- 
fered no change. Charles Townshend, then leader of 
the House of Commons, " a man of splendid talents, 



A PALTRY TAX ON TEA. 235 

of lax principles, and of boundless vanity and pre- 
sumption," as Macaulay says, who had procured the 
passage of the tax on tea, expressed his desire that 
"America should be regulated and deprived of its 
militating and contradictory charters," and England 
by her ill-judged movements was preparing for the 
abrogation of these charters and the "regulating" of 
the political organization of the American Colonies 
in a manner that they did not fancy. Trouble had 
already arisen in the State of New York, where the 
Assembly had refused to pay for quartering of 
troops. Parliament declared the Assembly incapable 
of action until the demand had been met. The 
Assembly acquiesced after holding out for a time, 
but similar trouble sprung up in other Colonies, and 
new taxes were devised, until, in 1768, Massachusetts 
sent a circular letter to the other Colonies, asking them 
to unite in seeking relief from the king. The Assembly 
addressed a letter to the king protesting against the 
presence of a standing army and against taxation with- 
out representation. The Secretary of State ordered 
the resolution which led to the letter to be rescinded, 
and the other Colonies were directed to pay no atten- 
tion to it. The Assembly refused, and the frightened 
ministry determined to remove the import duties 
excepting a paltry tax upon tea, retained to assert the 
principle (April 12, 1770). Everywhere people refused 
to use tea, and agreed to buy no imported goods,* 
though at great sacrifice of taste and convenience. 

* The determination to use no imported goods is illustrated by the 
fact that when a ball was given at Williamsburgh, Va., January 3, 
1770, for the entertainment of the Governor, Lord Botetourt, the 
ladies to the number of a hundred appeared in homespun gowns. 



236 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

In the midst of the excitement, troops were or- 
dered to Boston " to reduce the clogs to reason," an 
extraordinary movement, for up to that time no Eng- 
lish soldiers had been seen in New England except in 
war time, and then only as they passed towards the 
unprotected frontier. The people refused to provide 
for them, and the town meeting in Faneuil Hall 
(September, 1768) requested the inhabitants to pro- 
vide themselves with arms — for sudden clanger "in 
case of a war with France," so they euphemistically 
expressed it. It was voted "that the inhabitants of 
the town of Boston will, at the utmost peril of their 
lives and fortunes, maintain and defend their rights, 
liberties, privileges and immunities." Samuel Adams 
said, " We will take up arms and spend our last drop 
of blood, before the King and Parliament shall im- 
pose on us, or settle Crown officers independent of 
the Colonial legislature to dragoon us." It was not 
long before Washington, from Mount Vernon, echoed 
the words, saying, " Our lordly masters in Great Brit- 
ain will be satisfied with nothing less than the dep- 
rivation of American freedom. Something should 
be done to maintain the liberty which we have de- 
rived from our ancestors. No man should hesitate a 
moment to use arms in defence of so valuable a bless- 
ing. Yet arms should be the last resource." In the 
next month (May, 1769) the legislature of Virginia 
met at Williamsburgh, followed the example of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut by declaring that 
the Writs of Assistance were illegal, and asked 
every Legislature in America to unite in concerted 
effort to protect their violated rights. Pennsylvania 
approved this action, Delaware passed the same reso- 



THE FIE ST BLOODSHEDDING. 239 

lutions, and every Colony south of Virginia followed 
in time. By the end of the year, New York had 
invited each Colony to elect delegates to a legislative 
body which should make laws for all, and though the 
plan was not carried out, it pointed again to union. 

The presence of troops in Boston led to the first 
bloodshedding.* It was on the evening of the fifth 
of March, 1770. The people irritated the soldiers, 
and they at last fired, killing three, mortally wound- 
ing two, and slightly wounding six others. This 
affray, called " the Boston Massacre," occurred in 
what is now State street (then King street), oppo- 
site the Old State House. Governor Hutchinson 
was forced to remove the troops, and until 1774, no 
more were quartered in Boston. A town-meeting 
was held on the sixth of March, in Faneuil Hall, but 
that place not being large enough, it adjourned to 
the Old South Meeting-house, where Samuel Adams 
was placed at the head of a committee directed to 
demand the removal of the troops. The Governor 
remembered the fate of Andros, and faltered before 
the strong man whom he had endeavored to have 
sent to England for trial as a traitor. It was one of 
the most pregnant moments in American history. 
England had been defied, and had given way, but 
revolution had been postponed. 

In June, 1772, the Gaspee, which had been sta- 
tioned at Providence to search vessels, all of which 

* " The first blood shed in defence of the rights of America," says 
Henry Dawson, in " Xew York during the American Revolution," 
"flowed from the veins of the inhabitants in New York, on the Golden 
Hill, [between Burling Slip and Maiden Lane,] January 18, 1770." The 
affair did not, however, attain the historic importance of the Boston 
Massacre. 



240 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

were suspected of violating the revenue acts, was 
burned by citizens who boarded it, bound the officers 
and crew, and took them to shore. It was proposed 
to carry the perpetrators of this act to England for 
trial, but the proposal resulted in nothing but more 
excitement. The royal commission took no action.* 

The next outbreak was the " Boston Tea Party," as 
it has been called. On the sixteenth of December, 
1773, a meeting of citizens in the " Old South Meeting- 
house," at Boston, was broken up by the cry, " Hurrah 
for Griffin's wharf! " Three ships had arrived, laden 
with tea, on which the tax was still laid, and the 

*The Rev. Ezra Stiles, of Newport, Rhode Island (afterwards 
President of Yale College), writing to an Englishman, evidently 
friendly to the Colonies, in 1772, said : " You may think it best to 
come first to Charleston, South Carolina. There you will find Mr. 
Gadsden, and other friends of public liberty. From thence, by water, 
you may come to Virginia, where you will find an Assembly firm in the 
cause of liberty. From Williamsburgh it may be best to travel by 
land to the northward. In Maryland you may find the sensible Mr. 
Dulany. At Philadelphia you will find Doctor Allison, Doctor Dick- 
inson, Chief Justice Allen, and many other patriots. At New Yoik, 
among others, you will take satisfaction in seeing Mr. William Liv- 
ingston and Mr John Morin Scott. Travelling along through Connec- 
ticut, you may see Governor Trumbull and others. In your way to 
Newport, where you will find Mr. Merchant, Mr. Ellery, Mr. Bowler, 
and among them I, myself, shall be happy in waiting upon you. The 
late Governor Ward and Governor Hopkins, both now living in 
the Colony, will take pleasure in seeing you. You will then proceed to 
Boston, and find Mr. Otis, Mr. Adams, Mr. dishing, Mr. Hancock and 
the Reverend Doctor Chauncy. I flatter myself you may find agreea- 
ble entertainment among them. You will proceed to Piscataqua, and, 
returning to Boston, may make an excursion across New England to 
Springfield, on Connecticut River, and so down to Hartford ; thence 
across the new towns to Albany, and so down along Hudson's River to 
New York." This shows what portions of the continent a man of 
learning thought worth seeing, and hints at the persons of most note, 
besides showing the names of some who had at that time espoused the 
idea of independence. 



THE BOSTON TEA PARTY. 241 

people had determined that it should not be landed. 
They had negotiated with the Governor, but he had 
finally refused to permit the vessels to return. Samuel 
Adams then rose and said, " This meeting can do 
nothing more to save the country." Then the cry 
just referred to had been uttered, and the audience 
left the building. An immense throng gathered at 
the wharf, and as they quietly looked on, a body of 
men disguised as Indians threw the cargoes into the 
harbor. Before dawn the next morning the men of 
Boston retired to their homes. The town was quiet, 
but the Revolution had begun. No one to this day 
has been able to give the names of all of the fifty 
men who, on that moonlit night, threw the tea 
into Boston harbor. 

The next morning Samuel Adams and four others, 
as a Committee of Correspondence, sent Paul Revere * 
to New York and Philadelphia, with a declaration 
of what had been done. The most intense excite- 
ment followed. On the fifth of March, 1774, John 
Hancock suggested to a crowded audience in Boston, 
a congress of deputies from the several Colonies, as 
"the most effectual method of establishing a union 
for the security of our rights and liberties." On the 
tenth of May, news arrived at Boston that the British 
Government had closed its port, removing the Board 
of Customs to Marblehead, and the seat of govern- 
ment to Salem. At the same time it was announced 

* Revere was a native of Boston, at this time thirty-eight years 
of age. In 1756, he had been a Lieutenant of Artillery at Lake 
George. He was one of the actors in the Tea Party. He also took 
the news of the closing of the port of Boston to New York and Phila- 
delphia, asking the sympathy of the inhabitants. 



242 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

that all the thirteen Colonies had pledged themselves 
to union. General Thomas Gage, who, in 1773, had 
succeeded Amherst as commander of the British forces 
in America, was appointed Governor of Massachusetts, 
and entered Boston on the seventeenth of May. On 
the first of June the " Port Bill " went into operation. 
The Assembly met at the same time at Salem, and on 
the seventeenth, with locked doors, appointed a gen- 
eral Congress to meet at Philadelphia, on the first 
of September. The Governor sent his messenger to 
dissolve the Assembly, but he knocked at the door in 
vain. 

On the sixth of August, Gage received a copy of 
the act, for the " better regulating the government 
of Massachusetts Bay." It was intended to awe the 
other Colonies, and to crush Massachusetts. It de- 
creed that the Governor was to have almost absolute 
authority ; that the councillors and chief judges were 
to be appointed by the Crown ; that town-meetings, 
except for elections, could only be held at the will 
of the Governor, and that persons charged with 
murder should be sent to another Colony, or to 
England, for trial. Under this act, thirty-six were 
summoned as "mandamus" councillors; but the in- 
dignation of the people was so great against them, 
that twenty refused to accept the post, and the rest 
fled to Boston in shame, to seek safety from the army. 
Gage was obliged to fortify his position, and on 
the fifth of September, broke ground for earthworks* 

*The expedition to Louisburg had been a military education to 
many in New England, and as some of the veterans of that campaign 
looked at the progress of Gage's works on the " neck," they exclaimed : 
" Gage's mud walls are nothing to old Louisburg's-" 



THE QUEBEC ACT. 



248 



on Boston "Neck," which connected the city with 
the mainland. 

Another move of the English Parliament must be 
mentioned. It was the passage of the " Quebec 
Act," in 1774, ostensibly to regulate the government 
of Canada, but really intended to raise a barrier 




HOUSE OF LIEUT.-GOV. OLIVER IN CAMBRIDGE, NOW TUE 
HOME OK JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



between the Colonies there and the thirteen now on 
the verge of war. It granted the Canadians the free 
exercise of the religion of the Church of Rome, and 
extended the province from the Gulf of St. Lawrence 
to the Mississippi River, the territory (subsequently 



244 LOOKING TOW ABBS INDEPENDENCE. 

called the Northwest Territory) to be mainly under 
royal officials. 

On the fifth of September, 1774, the members of 
Congress met at " Smith's Tavern," in Philadelphia, 
and selected " Carpenter's Hall " as the place of 
their future sessions. Among the members were 
George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Peyton 
Randolph and Patrick Henry, of Virginia, Samuel 
and John Adams, of Massachusetts, John Dickinson, 
of Pennsylvania, Christopher Gadsden and John 
Rutledge of South Carolina, Dr. John Witherspoon, 
president of the College of New Jersey, Stephen 
Hopkins, formerly Chief Justice of Rhode Island, and 
Roger Sherman of the same State- 
Speaking of this body, William Pitt said, " For 
solidity of reason, force of sagacity and wisdom of 
conclusion under a combination of difficult circum- 
stances, no nation or body of men can stand in pref- 
erence to the general Congress at Philadelphia. The 
histories of Greece and Rome give us nothing equal 
to it, and all attempts to impose servitude upon such 
a mighty Continental nation must be in vain. We 
shall be forced ultimately to retract ; let us retract 
when we can, not when we must." 

After the body was organized it was voted that the 
sessions be opened with prayer, and the Rev. Jacob 
Duche, an Episcopal clergyman, read the psalm for 
the seventh day of the month (the xxxvth), and then 
burst out in an extemporaneous prayer of great 
pathos and earnestness, to the surprise of those 
present. John Adams, writing to his wife (Sept. 16), 
gives an interesting account of this circumstance. 
The work of Congress consisted in the preparation 



THE NATION FOUNDED. 245 

of a Declaration of Rights, an agreement to stop Brit- 
ish imports and exports, to discontinue the slave 
trade after the first of December, an address to the 
British people (drawn up by Dickinson),* and a peti- 
tion to the king (drawn up by Jay). On the twentieth 
of October, the members signed the "American Asso- 
ciation," and thus founded the American Nation. 
Six days later the body adjourned, after having 
framed an address to the people of Canada, Nova 
Scotia and the Floridas, and after having made pro- 
vision for another Congress, if necessary, in the 
spring of 1775. 

Independence had not been demanded, but on the 
very day that the Congress adjourned steps were 
taken in Massachusetts that seemed to decide for 
war — steps which, if successful, could result in inde- 
pendence only. Governor Gage had ordered the 
Massachusetts Assembly to meet at Salem on the 
fifth of October ; but, having changed his mind, he 
countermanded the writs by a proclamation. The 
members considered this latter step illegal, and 
accordingly met on the day first appointed. On the 

* John Dickinson, a native of Maryland, was born November 13, 
1732, and died February 14, 1808. He entered the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania in 1764, and was from that time a power in public 
affairs. In 1768 he published his " Letters from a Pennsylvania 
Farmer," addressed to the colonists. In 1774 he was a member of the 
first Congress, but opposed the Declaration of Independence, though 
he had written some of the most important State papers issued by 
Congress, and in 1788, wrote his " Fabius " letters advocating the adop- 
tion of the Constitution. John Adams wrote of him in July, 1775, as 
" one whose abilities and virtues, formerly trumpeted so much in 
America, have been found wanting," and, in 1777, that he " turns out to 
be the man I have seen him to be these two years. He is in total 
neglect and disgrace ; " but Adams was often prejudiced by his own 
enthusiasm for the cause. 



246 LOOKING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. 

seventh they constituted themselves a " Provincial 
Congress," elected John Hancock president, and 
adjourned to Concord. They then remonstrated with 
Gage, urged the citizens to organize themselves as 
" Minute-men," and appointed committees of safety 
and supplies. On the twenty-third of November the 
body met again and asked the cooperation of New 
Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut in raising 
a force of twenty thousand men. The committees 
from the Colonies afterwards met and decided to 
oppose any offensive acts of Gage. Stores were laid 
in at Worcester and Concord, and the event awaited. 
On the first of February the Congress met again at 
Cambridge, and the sixteenth of March was set apart 
as a Fast Day for Boston and the region about. On 
the twenty-third of March the selectmen of the little 
town of Billerica, Mass., sent in a spirited protest to 
Gage, telling the commander of His Majesty's forces 
in America that " if the innocent inhabitants of our 
country must be interrupted by soldiers in their 
lawful intercourse with the town of Boston, and 
treated with the most brutish ferocity, we shall here- 
after use a different style from that of petition and 
complaint." 








CHAPTER XII. 



WAR BEGUN. 



HE American people had 
sent to their king their 
ultimatum, and though 
they waited to hear the 
response it should meet, 
they were by no means 
passive. The Legisla- 
ture of Massachusetts, 
which, as we have seen, 
had been called the 
Provincial Congress, 
though it had no author- 
ity except that which 
was given it by consent 
of the people, was 
obeyed, and never were 
the functions of govern- 
ment more peacefully 
carried on. The local 
organizations of which 
mention has been made,* now proved of great ser- 
vice.- The selectmen governed the towns without 
friction, and everywhere there were meetings of pat- 




BEATING DAMASK. 



* See page 206. 



247 



248 II • l/.' BEGUN. 

riotic citizens, drilling of militia, and forming of 
bands of " minutemen,'" all of whom were bound to be 
ready to appear at a moment's warning of danger. 
The smallest towns did not fear to send to General 
Gage messages of the most independent nature ; 
and Samuel Adams urged all to study with diligence 
the art of war; showing the depth of his feeling 
by saying, " I would advise persisting in our struggle 
for liberty, though it were revealed from heaven that 
nine hundred and ninety-nine were to perish, and 
only one of a thousand to survive and retain his 
liberty." Of the origin of these feelings, Burke said 
in Parliament : "From six capital sources : of descent ; 
of form of government ; of religion, in the Northern 
Provinces ; of manners, in the Southern ; of educa- 
tion ; of the remoteness of situation from the first 
mover of government ; from all these causes a fierce 
spirit of liberty has grown up." 

One of the earliest acts of the new year was the 
assembling of a Provincial Congress of over two hun- 
dred members, at Charleston, S. C. ; more than twice 
the number that attended the meetings of the similar 
body in Massachusetts. 

Nine days later, on the twentieth of January, the 
British Parliament met. The policy of the adminis- 
tration was to create divisions among the colonists, 
and it was supported by the people. It proposed to 
protect those who remained loyal, and to declare all 
others rebels. Commerce with the Americans was 
to be stopped. Chatham moved that the forces be 
immediately removed from Boston, as the only way to 
keep peace. He said that the king's information 
that the American union could not last was mislead- 



< '6MM1TTEE OF s. I FETY. 249 

ing,* that, on the contrary, the union was "solid," 
permanent and effectual." 

In spite of the powerful and true statement of the 
case made by Chatham, it was announced that the 
government had determined to use all possible means 
to bring the Americans to obedience. Franklin was 
present at the debate, and he had been using all efforts 
to keep up the good feeling between the two countries, 
without effect. It was not believed that there could 
be union between the different Colonies, a view held 
also by the Tories in America. It was the same 
feeling which led the ministry to deny General Gage 
a reenforcement of twenty thousand men. Massachu- 
setts was declared to be in a state of rebellion. 

The Provincial Congress came together a second 
time in February, and committed the military affairs 
to the hands of a Committee of Safety of eleven men 
who were charged to resist every attempt to execute 
the acts of Parliament. Artemas Ward was put at 
the head of the forces. He had had experience in 
the French War. Next to him was Seth Pomeroy, 
who had been at the siege of Louisburg, and had 
gained a victory over Dieskau at the battle of Lake 
George. 

At the same time orders were issued relieving; 



* This was not the first time that Englishmen had been "misled" 
regarding the outcome of affairs bearing upon the interests of America. 
Tn 1592, Lord Bacon wrote of the English Brownists, from whom the 
Pilgrims came, " As for those which we call Brownists, being, when they 
were at the most, a very small number of very silly and base people here 
and therein the corners dispersed, they are now (thanks be to Godl) 
by the good remedies which have been used, suppressed and worn 
out, so as there is scarce any news of them." And yet it was from 
these that the New World received much of its character and strength. 



250 WAR BEGUN. 

Gage of his command, and Sir William Howe was 
made commander-in-chief of all the English forces in 
America. Under Howe were General John Burgoyne 
and Sir Henry Clinton. Rear-Admiral Sir Richard 
Howe was in command of the naval forces. The 
army at Boston was to be raised to ten thousand 
men, and Gage was superseded because he was not 
considered able to manage so great a force.* 

Such was the position of affairs when the first blood 
was shed. The English commander had heard that 
ammunition was stored at Salem, and on Sunday, 
February 26, he sent two or three hundred soldiers to 
capture it. The expedition landed at Marblehead and 
marched to Salem. The cannon were not discovered, 
and the men set out for Danvers. The bridge at the 
river was found drawn up, and under the command 
of Timothy Pickering, the passage of the river was 
resisted long enough to allow the cannon to be re- 
moved to a place of safety. In the struggle tjie 
British used their bayonets, making some wounds. 
The people who thus repulsed the soldiers were at 
church when the alarm was given, but hastened as 
they had been trained to do during the Indian Avars. 

On the fifth of March, Joseph Warren for the sec- 
ond time, delivered an address on the anniversary of 
the "Boston Massacre." Samuel Adams presided. 
The Old South Church was crowded on the occasion 
to such an extent that the orator was obliged to enter 
by a window, with the help of a ladder. He depicted 
the event of the day they celebrated, and then re- 

* Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, did not reach Boston until the twenty- 
fifth of the next May, however, and the command of the army was not 
actually taken by Howe until August second. 



WARREN'S ADDRESS. 



251 




PTjLPTT window through which waijrkn knteked. 



ferred to the fact that armed men again filled the 
streets, but he assured those of the British army who 
were present, that such demonstrations would not 
intimidate the Americans. He said that indepen- 
dence was not the aim of the patriots ; that it was 



252 WAR BEGUN. 

their wish that Britain and the Colonies might, "like 
the oak and the ivy, grow and increase together," but 
that if pacific measures proved ineffectual, the Amer- 
ican people would press forward, even if " the only 
way to safety is through fields of blood." Amid the 
hisses of the officers, it was voted to commemorate 
"the horrid massacre" the following year in a similar 
manner. 

In England, American affairs were the subject of 
constant discussion. Not only did Pitt and Burke 
oppose their eloquence against the fatuity of the king 
vnd his counsellors, but Franklin still argued for his 
country against such men as Samuel Johnson and 
John Wesley, who could not discern the signs of the 
times. Suddenly, Franklin came to the conclusion 
that there was no more work for him to do in London, 
and embarked for home late in March. 

In April the ministers wrote to Gage to seize the 
colonial forts and stores, and to resort to short meas- 
ures to repress the rebellion by force ; but by the time 
they arrived he had already anticipated the instruc- 
tions. Boston and the towns around it now attracted 
the attention of the English. It was fondly thought 
that New York would stand by the king, but though 
it had not supported the acts of the general Congress, 
it now came out in favor of American rights. Ethan 
Allen and the " Green Mountain boys " were ready to 
seize Fort Ticonderoga, and to separate themselves 
from New York. Delaware approved the doings of 
Congress. Virginia, influenced by Washington, Jeffer- 
son, Patrick Henry and Lee, was earnestly protest- 
ing against royal imposition ; North Carolina was 
committed to the Congress, and the entire country 



GAGE'S MOVEMENTS WATCHED. 



2nH 



was busy preparing arms and supplying ammunition 
for the rapidly gathering volunteers who were every- 
where drilling in anticipation of war — not a war for 
independence, but for the recovery of lost rights. 




GENERAL GAGE. 



Soon after the affair at Salem it was expected that 
an attempt would be made by Gage to obtain the 
arms and stores at Concord, and a careful watch was 
kept of all movements at Boston. A part of the 



•254 WAR BEGUN. 

stores were removed and the cannon secreted, and 
Adams and Hancock made the house of the Rev. Mr. 
Clarke their headquarters, at Lexington. On Sun- 
day, April 1 6, Warren sent Paul Revere, from Bos- 
ton, to tell them that Gage had launched the boats 
of some transports which had been laid up all winter, 
and that it was evident that an advance was to be 
made. Two days later the move began by the send- 
ing of a body of men across the Charles River by 
night, to go through East Cambridge and Lexington 
to Concord. Just before they left, however, Warren 
sent out two men to warn Lexington and Concord, 
Revere, who went through Charlestown, and William 
Dawes who took the longer route through Roxbury, 
and the whole country was thus made ready for the 
event.* When returning from Lexington a few days 
before, Revere had agreed that if the British should 
go out by night, he would display lanterns from the 
steeple of "the North Church," as Christ Church 
was then familiarly called, and now as they left War- 
ren, he stopped to engage his friend, John Pulling 
(afterward captain and commissary of ordnance stores) 
a vestryman of Christ Church, to attend to the lanterns. 
Before Revere arrived at Charlestown, the signals 
had been seen, and it was known that the soldiers 
were to go by water. 

Revere roused the men in almost every house 
between Charlestown and Lexington, and awaked 
Adams and Hancock before one in the morning. 
Joined by Dawes and by Samuel Prescott of Con- 
cord, he pressed on towards Concord. At Lincoln, 

* The storv of the ride of Revere has been made immortal by the 
poem of Mr. Longfellow. 



LEXING TON PREPARED. 



•255 



Dawes and Revere were captured by a party of British 
officers, and taken back to Lexington, but Prescott 
reached Concord in safety. By two in the morning 
the inhabitants of Lexington had been called together 
on the Common by the sound of the meeting-house 
bell, and the minute-men, under the command of John 
Parker, were prepared to meet the enemy when they 




HEADyiTAKTKKS OF THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, CAMBRIDGE. 
BIRTHPLACE OF THE POET HOLMES. 



should appear, though as scouts reported that the Brit- 
ish were not in sight, all retired until the drum should 
call them to face the threatened attack. Adams and 
Hancock were, against their inclination, obliged to 
retire to Woburn, as it was known that they had 
become the objects of Gage's special hatred, and it 



256 WAR BEGUN. 

was supposed that the expedition was intended to 
take them.* 

The British commander found that he had not suc- 
ceeded in keeping the patriots from alarming the 
country, and sent to Gage for reinforcements. These 
were made ready under the command of Lord Percy, 
but as the boats were at Charlestown, they were 
obliged to go by a longer route — through Brookline — 
and did not arrive in time to give the required aid. 
The object was to reach Concord bridge in time to 
keep back reinforcements that might be sent from 
Acton and towns beyond. 

Just before daylight the British reached Lexington, 
and were met by the sight of the militia parading 
in front of the meeting-house, in number less than 
a hundred. The commander ordered the Americans 
to "disperse," but the order was not obeyed. It was 
followed by the command to fire, and seven of the 
little American band were killed, and nine wounded. 
Then Parker gave his men orders to disperse. With 
a huzza and a feu de joie, the British hastened on to 
Concord, reaching that place at about seven o'clock. 

*It was not until the twelfth of June that Gage issued his procla- 
mation, in which, under pretence of granting a general pardon, he 
proscribed Adams and Hancock by name. At the same time he pro- 
claimed martial law, ordered troops to be concentrated at Boston and 
other points, and called the savages to the help of his cause. Mrs. 
Abigail Adams probably gives the view generally taken of this action, 
when she writes: " All the records of time cannot produce a blacker 
page. Satan, when driven from the regions of bliss, exhibited not 
more malice." At the same time the Congress of New York took 
every precaution to restrain the Indians from entering the war with 
their savage methods, and the general Congress called upon the colo- 
nists to keep a fast, to recognize George III. as their sovereign, and 
to pray for peace. 



THE BATTLE AT CONCORD. 257 

The men of the village had retired, and there was no 
resistance until after nine o'clock, when a force of 
about four hundred had gathered north of the bridge.* 
When the British arrived and found their progress 
impeded, they fired at the Americans, killing one and 
wounding four. The volley was returned. Two of 



THE OLD BATTLK GROUND AT CONCOKD, MASS. 

the British were killed, several wounded, and the 
battle of Concord was over, for the British began 
a promiscuous retreat, which did not stop until the 

*Bv the rude bridge that arched the flood. 
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled. 
Here once the embattled farmers stood, 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

— R. IV. Emerson. 



258 WAR BEGUN. 

tired and disheartened regulars found shelter in Bos- 
ton, though a rest was made at Lexington, where the 
reinforcements under Lord Percy, met them, but 
only to turn and join in the hopeless flight. As they 
advanced, they became more weary, while they were 
attacked from every angle in the road, and every pro- 
tecting wall, by the malitiamen of the surrounding 
towns, who came up fresh and cool to revenge the 
murder of their brethren.* Percy marched thirty 
miles in ten hours, and the first body retreated twenty 
miles in six hours. Their loss was nearly three hun- 
dred — killed, wounded and missing. The Americans 
lost forty-nine killed, and thirty-nine wounded and 
missing. 

The next day the Committee of Safety, which had 
adjourned to Menotomy (afterwards West Cambridge, 
and now Arlington) before the battles, now estab- 
lished its headquarters in the house of Mr. Hastings, 
on the edge of Cambridge Common, and issued a call 
to the Colonies, urging them to send volunteers imme- 
diately, and saying, " Our all is at stake. Death and 
devastation are the certain consequences of delay. 
Every moment is infinitely precious. An hour lost 
may deluge your country in blood and entail per- 
petual slavery upon the few of your posterity that 
may survive the carnage." The proclamation was 
needed only to give official direction to the move- 
ments, however, for it seemed as if the whole country 
were turning out to protect its rights. Almost before 
the British had arrived at their Boston barracks, 

*The Americans had not forgotten the capture of Louisburg, and 
had great confidence in their powers. " The drum that beat along the 
road to Lexington, had been at Louisburg," said Edward Everett. 



THE GENERAL RISING. 



259 



General Ward found himself at the head of an army 
of determined freemen. Orders were given that the 
college should be removed to Concord ; the library 
was taken to Andover, and the college buildings were 
appropriated as barracks for the soldiers. "'The 
news of this scene of blood [the battles of Lexington 
and Concord] roused the spirit of the patriots 
throughout the Colonies. John Stark in New Hamp- 
shire, Israel Put- 
nam in Connecti- 
cut, the military 
oracles of their 
neighborhoods, 
leaving unfinished 
the work on their 
farms, and mount- 
ing their horses to 
join their brethren 
in peril — the Com- 
mittee of Orange 
County [Virginia], 
James Madison one 
of the number, pro- 
nouncing the blow tfff^tt^p cancel 
struck in Massachu- / 

setts an attack on Virginia and every other Colony — 
the patriots of the Carolinas entering into associations 
pledging their lives and fortunes to defend an injured 
country — are illustrations of the general uprising to 
support at every hazard a common. cause." * 

The day after the retreat from Concord, Boston 
was in a state of siege. The Tories deserted their 

*"The Rise of the American Republic," Frothingham, p. 415. 




260 WAB 11EGUN. 

elegant dwellings in Cambridge, and in a few days 
large numbers of patriots left Boston, first depositing 
their arms in Faneuil Hall. The number was so 
great that the Tories urged Gage to rescind his per- 
mission that they should withdraw, and he was 
forced to accede to the request. 

Many other Tories left their homes in New Eng- 
land. Among them was Samuel Curwen of Salem, 
who kept a journal that has been published. In it 
he says, that finding the spirit of the people to rise on 
every fresh alarm ("which has been almost hourly "), 
and their tempers to get more and more sour and 
malevolent against "moderate men," he thought it 
his duty to " withdraw for a while from the storm." 
Accordingly, he says, " I left my late peaceful home 
in search of personal security and those rights which, 
by the laws of God, I ought to have enjoyed there." 
He sailed at first for Philadelphia, " hoping to find an 
asylum amongst Quakers and Dutchmen," whom he 
vainly thought to " have too great a regard for ease 
and property to sacrifice either on the altar of an 
unknown goddess." He soon found that " Quakers 
and Dutchmen " were also patriots, and was fain to 
sail for England, where he remained nine years. 

The British government appropriated large sums 
towards the support of these self-expatriated persons. 
They were, however, in constant fear lest the pension 
should be discontinued. When a list of persons ban- 
ished by the Massachusetts government arrived in 
England, and contained but four of the thirteen from 
Salem, the nine not mentioned probably sympathized 
in the record made by one of them in his diary : 
" The omission of my name affords me no comfort, 



THE TORY REFUGEES. 261 

fearing it may operate disadvantageous^ here, being 
dependent on the bounty of the court." * 

In 1782 Mr. Curwen heard that the government 
had actually determined to withdraw all support from 
the refugees, and his feelings rose so high that he 
wrote to Samuel Sewall, who was one of them, " So 
shameless and unexampled an act of barbarity you 
probably may think cannot be perpetrated in a civ- 
ilized State." Later in the same year the refugees 
seem to have become subjects for jest in England, 
and The Public Advertiser, of June 29. said, speaking 
of the withdrawal of pensions from them, " Next year 
we may hope for more haymakers than we are able to 
get for the present harvest." 

The first information that reached England of the 
affairs at Lexington and Concord came from the 
Provincial Congress, of which Dr. Joseph Warren 
was president, and it produced an impression favor- 
able to the Americans, which increased every day 
that information from British sources was delayed, as 
it was thought that the delay was intended to keep 

*In 1783 the appropriation for this object were reduced more than 
half. Mr. Curwen went to the treasury February 14th, and found that 
his allowance had not been diminished, but, he adds, "A few are 
raised, some struck off, more lessened. Of those that have come to 
my knowledge, Governor Oliver's is lessened ^100 out of ^300 ; Mr. 
Williams, who has married a fortune here, is struck off ; Harrison 
Gray, with a wife and two children, struck off; his brother Lewis, 
lessened to ^50; D. Tngersoll, reduced from ,£200 to .£100; Samuel 
H. Sparkhawk, from ^150 to .£80; Benjamin Gridley from £150 to 
,£100 ; Thomas Danforth's, Samuel Sewall's, Samuel Porter's, Peter 
Tohonnot's, G. P>rinley's, Edward Oxnard's and mine continue as at 
first; Chandler's raised ^50; Samuel Fitch's, ^"20; Col. Morrow's, 
^50 ; one whose name T forget is sunk from ^"ioo to ^30." These 
facts show that the refugees did not have in all respects an agreeable 
life in England. 



262 



WAR BEGUN. 



back less favorable news. When Howe, Burgoyne 
and Clinton arrived in Boston Harbor, on the twenty- 
fifth of May, they found the city garrisoned by five 
thousand men and surrounded by an army of twice 
that number. 

Meantime a body of "Green Mountain Boys," under 




THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD, FROM WHICH THE "WIFE OF THE 

REV. wm. bmebson watched the battle. 



command of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold (who 
had forced himself into the position), had, on the 
tenth of May (1775), captured Ticonderoga, a fort 
which had cost the English a vast sum. On the 
twelfth they had also taken Crown Point, securing a 
larse amount of ammunitions. Arnold claimed com- 



THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 263 

mand of the soldiers at Ticonderoga under authority 
of the Provincial Congress, which had moved to 
Watertown, and had not only commissioned him, but 
had also authorized an expedition to Quebec, which 
was not, however, immediately undertaken. 

On the day that Ticonderoga was taken, the second 
Continental Congress met in the old State House in 
Philadelphia, and sat until the first of August, when it 
adjourned to the fifth of September, and sat until 
December 30.* On the twenty-first of July Franklin 
submitted a plan for a perpetual union of the States, 
with the name " The United States of North Amer- 
ica," but it was not acted upon at the time.f Early in 
June the " Continental " army was first so called, in a 
resolution to borrow six thousand pounds for the pur- 
pose of buying gunpowder. On the fifteenth of June, it 
was voted to appoint a general, and, "at the particular 

* A number of the delegates were elected without limit of time, 
and the commissions of the others were renewed from time to time, 
and the body may be considered as having been in continuous session 
foom May 10, 1775, until after the close of the war, the formation of 
the Constitution, and the election of the first Congress chosen under 
it, in 1788. 

t Just before this, Franklin had shown his spirit by addressing the 
following note to one of his old friends, a member of the British 
Parliament : 

" Philadfxphia, July 5, 1775. 
"Mr. Strahan — You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that 
Majority which has doomed my Country to Destruction. — You have 
begun to burn our Towns and murder our People. — Look upon your 
Hands! — They are stained with the blood of your Relation! — You 
and I were long friends : — You are now my Enemy, 

" and 

" I am, 

" Yours, 

"B. Franklin." 



264 WAR BEGUN. 

request of the people of New England," George 
Washington was unanimously chosen by ballot to fill 
the office. The next clay he modestly accepted the 
appointment, and on the seventeeth, the delegates 
resolved to " maintain and assist him, and adhere 
to him, the said George Washington, Esquire, with 
their lives and fortunes." 

Washington was placed at the head of military 
affairs not a moment too soon, for it had been for 
some time evident that General Ward was not the 
man for the responsible post. At the moment that 
the election was made, the need of skilled guidance 
was great, for another encounter was in progress 
between the Americans and the British. Gage had 
determined to extend his lines towards Dorchester 
and Charlestown, with the help of Howe, Burgoyne 
and Clinton, and the eighteenth of June had been set 
for the beginning of the movement ; but the plan was 
known to the Committee of Safety, and Ward was 
directed to anticipate them. Accordingly he sent a 
body of about a thousand men poorly equipped, to 
fortify Bunker Hill, under command of William Pres- 
cott. As they left Cambridge Common, President 
Langdon, of Harvard College, offered a fervent prayer 
for their safety and success.* 

It was after midnight before the first sod had been 
turned up, but the men used their spades with 
alacrity, and when the sun rose, it disclosed to the 
astonished British the fact that the Americans were 
behind a complete earthwork overlooking Boston. 

*It was Breed's Hill that was actually fortified, it being nearer Bos- 
ton. Gridley who laid out the works, had been, engineer of the col- 
onial forces at the memorable siege of Louisburg, in 1745. 



THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 



265 



A cannonading was begun by the shipping, and a 
battery was mounted on Copp's Hill, in Boston, but 
neither stopped the. progress of the work that the 
Americans had begun, despite the severe heat of the 
the day. Gage saw that it was necessary to storm 
the works, ordered an assault, and fired Charles- 
town. Twice his veterans advanced and were repulsed 
by the irregularly organized and poorly protected pat- 
riots, but at the third advance the Americans found 
themselves forced to retire on account of a lack of 
powder. By order of 
Prescott, who had the 
command at the re- 
doubt, they retreated 
slowly to Prospect Hill, 
where they encamped 
for the night. The Brit- 
ish had lost eighty- 
three officers and more 
than a thousand men,* 
and the Americans had 
lost less than five hun- 
dred. The grestest loss to the patriot cause was the 
life of Joseph Warren, who had been made a major- 
general a few days before, but who acted a private on 
the field, though asked by both Prescott and Putnam 
to take the command. His presence on the ground 
had inspired the soldiers, as his eloquence had given 
life and courage to the patriots in their councils on 
many occasions before. He had been a leader in and 

* It was reported in F^ngland that " the king's troops would not 
fight, but laid down their arms," and " the great carnage among the 
officers " was thus accounted for. — Curwen's Journal, p. 34. 




266 WAR BEGUN. 

president of the New England Provincial Congress. 
This battle had important influence on both sides. 
Howe is said to have exclaimed, "They may talk of 
their 'Mindens' and their ' Fontenoys,' but there was 
no such fire there ! " Gage reported to the adminis- 
tration that the Americans were not the "despicable 
rabble" that they had been supposed to be, that 
they possessed a military spirit joined with uncommon 
zeal and enthusiasm, and that the conquest of the 
country would not be easy. The Americans were 
encouraged by the defeat. ■ They had completely 
crippled Gage, and Prescott had been confident enough 
to offer to retake the works if he could have fifteen 
hundred men. Washington had his faith confirmed 
that the liberty of America was to be secured, and 
Franklin wrote to England that the Colonies were 
lost forever. The battle also brought Georgia into 
the Union of colonies, which henceforth numbered 
thirteen. 

Torn from a world of tyrants, 

Beneath this western sky, 
We formed a new dominion, 

A land of liberty. 
The world shall own we're masters here, 

Then hasten on the day : 
Huzza, huzza, huzza, 

For free America ! 

— Joseph Warren. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



INDEPENDENCE. 




w 



'ASHINGTON received his 
commission from Congress 
three days after the battle on Breed's 
Hill. The spirit with which he en- 
tered upon the responsible duties of 
commander-in-chief may be learned 
from his correspondence. To his wife 
he wrote that he had endeavored to 
avoid the appointment, from a sense 
that the duties were beyond his capa- 
city, but that he entered upon them 
relying confidently upon that Provi- 
dence which had hitherto preserved 
him. This spirit he carried through 
the war. 

On the twenty-third of June, accompanied by a 
brilliant mounted escort, Washington left Philadelphia 
to assume command of the army. He was accompanied 
by two of the four Major-Generals just appointed by 
Congress, Charles Lee, an officer of uneven temper, 
who had returned from Europe the previous year, and 
Philip Schuyler, a man of great zeal for the cause and 
of high social connections in New York. Two or 
three hours out of the city they were met by a courier 

267 



BKITISH STAMPS 

(for the Amer- 
ican market.) 



26* 



INDEPENDENCE. 



bearing the news of the battle of Bunker Hill, and 
Washington eagerly inquired as to the behavior of 
the militia-men on the occasion. The response satis- 
fied him that the country was safe. The slow journey 
gave the three officers a good opportunity to discuss 
the state of affairs, and their time was mostly given 
up to such a council as was needed by men who had 
just been chosen to prosecute a war. On the twenty- 
fifth, the party arrived at Newark, where a committee 

of the Provin- 
cial Congress 
appeared to act 
as escort to 
New York. 
They reached 
that city in 
the afternoon, 
and the inhabi- 
t a n t s turned 
out with every 
attestation of 
joy, to greet 
the new com- 
mander. The 
English Gov- 
ernor, Tyron, 
had been ab- 
sent, and re- 
turned the 
same da y, 
though at a later hour, and was received with respect 
by . the loyalists ; but the people looked upon him 
with suspicion. 




WASHINGTON AT CAMBRIDGE. 269 

Having placed Schuyler in command in New York, 
Washington hastened towards Cambridge, with Lee, 
leaving the city on the twenty-sixth, and arriving at 
Watertown, where the Massachusetts Provincial Con- 
gress was in session, on the second of July. He was 
greeted with a congratulatory address, as had been 
the case in New York, and the same day went to 
Cambridge, where the house of the president of the 
college had been prepared as his headquarters.* 
The Commander-in-chief was greeted by thundering 
of artillery, and the shouts of the multitude. He was 
in the height of his physical vigor, forty-three years 
of age, a man of stately person, of elegant and digni- 
fied manners, military in his bearing, and, like all Vir- 
ginians, perfectly at home in the saddle. Mrs. John 
Adams wrote, that as she looked on him the lines of 
Dryden instantly occurred to her : 

Mark his majestic fabric ! He's a temple 
Sacred by birth and built by hands divine ; 
His soul 's the deity that lodges there : 
Nor is the pile unworthy of the god. 

On the morning of the third of July, Washington, 
accompanied by General Lee, formally took command 
of the army, under an elm which is still cherished as 
a memento of the occasion. The army was drawn up 
on the Common before him. The soldiers were ill 
armed. General Nathaniel Greene, commander of 
the Rhode Island forces, greeted Washington with 
a soldierly address, and was received immediately into 
the confidence of the Commander-in-chief. 

* This was exchanged after a few weeks, and the house for many 
years occupied by the poet Longfellow, became headquarters. 



270 



INDEPENDEX CE. 



Washington found his irregular army stretched out 
over a territory of some eight or nine miles in extent, 
holding in restraint the well-disciplined and well-pro- 
visioned army of England, which, under Gage, Bur- 
goyne and Howe, occupied Boston, and the shipping 
in the harbor. The prospect was not cheering, and 
it became his first duty to acquaint Congress of the 




THE WASHINGTON ELM, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 

state of affairs, showing the destitution of the soldiers, 
the need of the appointment without delay, of a quar- 
termaster-general, a commissary-general, and other 
general officers. 

On the Fourth of July, Washington issued an order 
to the forces, in which he said, that as the Continen- 
tal Congress had taken all troops into its service, 



THE RAGGED CONTINENTAL^. 271 

they were thenceforth " the troops of the United 
Provinces of North America ; and it is hoped that all 
distinctions of Colonies will be laid aside, so that one 
and the same spirit may animate the whole." He 
added, "The General requires and expects of all officers 
not engaged on actual duty, a punctual attendance on 
divine service, to implore the blessings of Heaven 
upon the means used for our safety and defence." 

The ragged condition of the soldiers struck him 
with force, and he made suggestions towards supply- 
ing this want. The number of the troops had been 
represented to him as eighteen thousand, but he 
found but fourteen thousand on the ground. It had 
been in like manner told him that three hundred bar- 
rels of powder had been collected, and he had not 
been informed that all of it excepting thirty-two bar- 
rels had been expended. This startling discovery de- 
manded the most efficient measures for supplying the 
deficiency. His attention was, in fact, to be almost 
entirely restricted to the duty of bringing order out 
of the confusion in which he found affairs, and in 
strengthening his position. His lack of artillery was 
to a certain extent supplied in December by the cap- 
ture of the British brig Nancy, with a complete 
assortment of stores, among which were two thousand 
muskets, one hundred thousand flints and thirty 
thousand round shot, and a little later by the skill of 
Gen. Henry Knox, who brought from Ticonderoga fifty 
mortars, cannon and howitzers (dragging them over the 
Green Mountains by long trains of oxen on sledges.) 

Washington was not without other troubles. Gen- 
eral Lee did not prove a satisfactory aid. He was 
unprepossessing in appearance, but was supposed to 



272 INDEPENDENCE. 

have gained remarkable experience and wisdom in 
Europe. He proved to be a soldier of fortune, vain, 
impulsive and overbearing, and at one time he came 
near entering into a compromising correspondence with 
the British. Such a correspondence was actually car- 
ried on by Dr. Benjamin Church, a member of the 
Provincial Congress, who was condemned as a traitor. 
There was at another time insubordination in camp, 
and some of the criminals were sent to the old copper 
mines at Simsbury, Connecticut.* 

The Rev. Dr. John J. Zubly, of Georgia, who was a 
delegate to Congress in 1775, also engaged in corre- 
spondence with the British, and was obliged to flee 
from the country. The patriotism of the Rev. Mr. 
Duche also failed. 

General Gage sailed for England in October, leav- 
ing the command to Lord Howe. To him was due 
the burning of Falmouth, now Portland, Me. ; for 
though it occurred just after he sailed, it was a part 
of the policy of ravaging the seacoast, which he is sup- 
posed to have inaugurated. On the morning of the 
twelfth of October the place was fired by the British 
vessels, and the event led to the beginning of the 
American navy, for it became evident that protection 
such as ships only could give was needed by towns on 
the coast. 

Howe was in a critical situation, for though he had 

* It is said that these mines, which were used by Connecticut from 
1773 to 1827, surpassed in horrors all that is known of European or 
American prisons. Entrance was effected through a shaft by a ladder ; 
the rooms were built of boards ; water dripped from the earth ; the 
caves were gloomy and reeked with filth ; the prisoners were fastened 
to bars of iron by their feet, and to the beams above by chains around 
their necks. 




THE MINUTE MAN. 



THE SIEGE OF BOSTON. 275 

a fleet at his disposal which could ravage the sea- 
board and thus furnish him supplies, there was a 
misunderstanding between him and Admiral Graves, 
commander of the fleet. The Americans had at an 
early stage taken possession of a large quantity of 
live stock on Long Island, near Boston, which Gage 
had intended for supplies,* and now cattle in great 
numbers were shipped from England, not one of 
which ever reached the beleagured army. There had 
been shipments also, of potatoes and eggs, corn and 
butter, and other necessaries, and generous private 
offerings were made for the same purpose. 

Notwithstanding these troubles, the soldiers in the 
beleagured city managed to amuse themselves in vari- 
ous ways. Faneuil Hall was made into a theatre, in 
which officers took parts, and the Old South meeting- 
house was used as a riding school for the light drag- 
oons. For the theatre General Burgoyne, who up to 
that time had been known rather as an unsuccessful 
author than as a military man, wrote a play entitled 
" The Siege of Boston," and while it was acting, an 
officer came upon the stage with the announcement 
that the Americans were attacking Bunker Hill again. 
It was supposed at first that this was a part of the 
play, and some of the audience laughed at it, until it 
was found to be a real alarm, though the firing 
amounted to little. 

It had been the design of Washington to approach 
Boston on the ice during the winter, but the season 

* At this time the beef of a poor milch cow was sold in Boston for 
a shilling a pound. On a Monday evening early in July, 1775, three 
hundred volunteers went to Long Island in whale boats, and brought 
off " seventy odd sheep, fifteen head of cattle and sixteen prisoners," 



276 INDEPENDENCE. 

proved warm, and this plan was frustrated. He 
determined to occupy Dorchester Heights (now 
South Boston), which overlooked the city, and chose 
the anniversary of the "Boston Massacre" as the 
time to make the attempt, a cannonading being kept 
up on the other sides of Boston,* in order to divert 
attention from the real work. The firing began on 
Saturday, March 2, 1776, and on Monday evening, 
under the bright light of the moon, the advance 
guard of some eight hundred, followed by a working 
party of twelve hundred with carts, intrenching tools, 
and all that skill and thoughtfulness could suggest 
for safety, passed from Cambridge to the Heights. 
In the morning the British were startled by the sight 
which met their eyes as they looked towards Dor- 
chester. Through the fog that happened to cover 
them, the new forts looked larger than they were, 
and Howe said that at least twelve thousand men 
must have been employed in raising them. Howe at 
first thought of attacking the Americans, and a 
party was detailed for the purpose, but the men were 
dejected as they remembered Bunker Hill. Lord 

* Mrs. Adams wrote to her husband on that Monday evening, " I 
have just returned from Penn's Hill, where I have been sitting to hear 
the amazing roar of the cannon, and from whence I could see every 
shell that was thrown. The sound, I think, is one of the grandest in 
nature, and is of the true species of the sublime. Tis now an incessant 
roar, but oh, the fatal ideas that are connected with the sound ! How 
many of our dear countrymen must fall ! " The next morning she 
added : " I went to bed about twelve, and rose again a little after one. 
I could no more sleep than if I had been in the engagement ; the 
rattling of the windows, the jar of the house, the continual roar of 
twentv-four pounders and the bursting of shells, give us such ideas, 
and realize a scene to us of which we could form scarcely any con- 
ception." 



■BOSTON EVACUATED. 27? 

Percy took them to the castle, intending to make the 
attack after dark. A violent easterly storm such as 
frequently visits Boston in March, set in, and pre- 
vented the attempt for several days, and then a council 
of war advised Howe to evacuate Boston immediately. 
He was in a dilemma. He had in his dispatches 
scouted the idea of his being in any danger from the 
" rebels," and had expressed a desire that they 
would attack him. In the autumn he had said that 
he could not change the seat of war, because he had 
insufficient transports. Now he had fewer, and a 
larger army. However, he made the most hurried 
arrangements to embark, and the Tories who had 
felt unbounded confidence in the British power, 
hastened to crowd themselves into the close quarters 
of the transports. Of the Tories, Washington wrote 
that when the order for embarking the troops in Bos- 
ton was issued, " No electric shock, no sudden clap 
of thunder, in a word, the last trump could not have 
struck them with greater consternation. They were 
at their wits' end, and, conscious of their black ingrat- 
itude, chose to commit themselves, in the manner I 
have described, to the mercy of the waves, in a tem- 
pestuous season, rather than meet their offended 
countrymen." * 

Thus, with undignified haste, the British forces 
evacuated Boston and set sail for Halifax — sev- 

* Six vessels laden with refugees arrived in England early in June, 
bringing " R. Lechmere, I. Vassall, Col. Oliver, Treasurer Gray, etc. 
Those who bring property here may-do well enough, but those who 
expect reimbursement for losses, or a supply for present support, will 
find to their cost, the hand of charity very cold. ' Blessed is he (saith 
Pope) that expecteth nothing, for he shall never be disappointed ; ' nor 
a more interesting truth was never uttered." — Curweri s Journal. 



278 INDEPENDENCE. 

enty-eight ships and transports, with some twelve 
thousand men, including the sympathizers with 
the royal cause. All the time not a shot was 
fired by the Americans, and on the morning of Sun- 
day, March 17, the work of embarkation was com- 
plete. Howe sailed away for Halifax, that he might 
get " refreshment " and have room for " exercising 
his troops," at the same time that Putnam entered 
from Cambridge, and other American troops from 
Roxbury. The next day Washington entered with 
Mrs. Washington, by the road which now bears his 
name, amid the joyful plaudits of the few of the 
inhabitants who remained. He said that the destruc- 
tion of stores after the defeat of Braddock was nothing 
in comparison with what he saw in Boston. Congress 
ordered a gold medal to be struck and presented to 
him, bearing the words, Host i bus prima fugatis, Bos- 
touum recupemtum, xvii Martii, mdcclxxvi. Wash- 
ington lost no time in sending troops to New York, 
expecting the city to be attacked by the troops which 
had disappeared in the ships, and he left Cambridge 
himself on the fourth of April, reaching New York on 
the thirteenth. General Lee had arrived there on the 
fourth of February, with orders to resist all efforts to 
get possession of the Hudson River, and to "keep a 
stern eye upon the Tories." 

While Washington had been busy about Boston, 
the enterprise against Canada had been entered upon. 
Scarcely had Schuyler taken command at New York 
before Congress instructed him (June 27th, 1775) to 
protect Fort Ticonderoga, and take possession of 
Montreal, and to "pursue any other measures in 
Canada " that he might consider to the advantage 



SUCCESS IN CANADA. 279 

of the Colonies. The patriot cause was menaced by 
the Johnson family of Central New York, one of 
whom, Colonel Guy Johnson, was "Indian Agent," 
and used his great influence over the Six Nations in 
favor of the royal cause, to which he was attached. 
Another of the family was in Montreal endeavoring 
to stir up the Caughnawaga Indians to rise against 
the Americans.* 

Illness forced Schuyler to give up the command to 
General Richard Montgomery, an Irish officer who 
had been with Wolfe at the capture of Quebec. He 
was connected by marriage with the Livingston 
family. Aided by Ethan Allen, and by John Brown 
of Pittsfield, Mass., he invested St. John's, and it 
capitulated to him in November, with the greater 
portion of the British forces in Canada ; but Allen 
and Brown planned a premature attack upon Mon- 
treal, in which Allen was made prisoner, and sent to 
England. After taking St. John's the way was open 
to attack Montreal, and this was successfully done on 
the thirteenth of November. 

Meantime Arnold, with very particular instructions 
from Washington, who placed great confidence in 
him, started across the district of Maine to join Mont- 
gomery in an attack upon Quebec. On the ninth of 
November, 1775, he arrived at Point Levi, opposite 

* Schuyler put an end to trouble from this family, on the nineteenth 
of January, 1776, by laying siege to Johnson Hall, in which Sir John 
Johnson had fortified himself, and forcing him to capitulate. There 
was no outbreak until the massacre of Cherry Valley in November, 
1778. The orderly book of Sir John Johnson during the Oriskany 
campaign (1776-77), has been published (1S83), and in the introduc- 
tion, Mr. J. W. de Peyster makes a vigorous plea for Johnson and the 
other Tories of the time. 



280 INDEPENDENCE. 

Quebec, intending to surprise the fortress, but having 
a month before committed a letter to Schuyler to an 
untrustworthy Indian, his designs had become known. 
An inhabitant of the city writing of the sudden 
appearance of the little troop, said, " Surely a miracle 
must have been wrought in their favor. It is an 
undertaking above the common race of men in this 
debauched age. They have travelled through woods 
and bogs, and over precipices, for the space of one 
hundred and twenty miles, attended with every incon- 
venience and difficulty." This was done at the most 
inclement season of the year. If Arnold had attacked 
the city immediately, he would probably have been 
successful, but the enterprise was delayed until the 
last day of the year, when a number of misadventures, 
and the fact that the British had been reenforced, 
caused it to result in failure. Montgomery was killed 
when bravely leading his men, and Arnold was 
wounded. The forces were subsequently commanded 
by Generals Wooster, Thomas and Sullivan ; but no 
success attended any of them, and the campaign was 
abandoned in June, 1776. 

It was a favorite plan of George the Third to carry 
on the war in the South, and he sent seven regiments 
under Generals Sir Henry Clinton, and Charles, Earl 
Cornwallis, who had opposed the measures which led 
to the war, aided by a fleet under Admiral Peter 
Parker, to attack Charleston. The Governor of 
Virginia had attempted to excite the slaves to rise, 
and had exasperated the people. The Governor of 
North Carolina had issued a proclamation shortly 
after the news of the failure at Quebec had been 
received, and before the evacuation of Boston, urging 




" ' ' 



__. .. . 



SOUTH CAROLINA PATRIOTISM. 283 

the colonists to unite in support of his majesty 
against the "daring, horrid and unnatural rebellion," 
and they had both failed in their efforts. Now the 
patriotism of South Carolina was to prove sufficient 
to protect her against the attack that was about to 
be made. Lee, who had previously been ordered to 
Canada to take the place of Montgomery, was sent 
to the South, and was in command at Charleston, 
having arrived on the fourth of June. Arrangements 
had already been made for the protection of the har- 
bor, a hastily erected fort having been fortified on 
Sullivan's Island, and though not completed when the 
fleet arrived, Colonel William Moultrie took command 
of it, and held it against the attack with so much 
skill and intrepidity, that after enduring a hot fire for 
twelve hours, the South Carolina militiamen forced 
the British fleet to retreat with great loss. The fort 
has since borne the name of Moultrie. Though Lee's 
advice was against trying to hold the fort, he received 
much credit for the success that was achieved. 

There were few men in all the Colonies who had 
looked forward to independence as a right to be 
demanded, but in every one there had been slowly 
growing up a feeling that the relations between them 
and the Mother-Country could not be sustained as 
they then existed. The first real declaration of the 
necessity of independence was made by Virginia, on 
the fifteenth day of May, 1776, when she instructed 
her delegates in Congress to propose the sundering 
of the ties that bound the Colonies to England. On 
the twenty-ninth of June she went further, and de- 
clared that the ties which had bound her to the 
Crown were then dissolved. " North Carolina was 



284 INDEPENDENCE. 

the first Colony to act as a unit in favor of inde- 
pendence. On the fifteenth of May, only four of 
the Colonies had acted definitely on the question." 
North Carolina, Rhode Island and Massachusetts had 
authorized their delegates to concur in declaring in- 
dependence, and Virginia had instructed her delegates 
to propose it.* Many other bodies had done as 
Cambridge, Mass., did, when, on the twenty-seventh 
of May, it engaged to support Congress " if" it should 
" for the safety of the Colonies declare them indepen- 
dent of the Kingdom of Great Britain;" but none 
had then taken a step so advanced as that of 
Virginia. At the time that she declared herself free 
from Great Britain, she, by an unanimous vote, adopted 
" the first written Constitution ever framed by an 
independent political society."! The same conven- 
tion on the fifteenth of May appointed a committee 
eventually comprising thirty-two members, including 
Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison, to 
prepare a Declaration of Rights, and on the twenty- 
seventh of May, the Declaration was presented by 
Archibald Cary. It had been drawn up by Mason. 
On the twelfth of June it was adopted. It dealt in 
general principles, and made no reference to Great 
Britain, as the bills passed in the other Colonies had. 
On the fourteenth of June the Connecticut Assem- 
bly directed the delegates of that Colony in Congress 
to propose that the Colonies be declared independent 
and absolved from allegiance to the King, and the 

* See Frothingham's " Rise of the Republic of the United States," 

pages 502, 512. 

t "The Virginia Convention of 1776," by Hugh Blair Grigsby, p. 
19; Richmond, 18155. 



THE COLONIES DECLARED INDEPENDENT. 285 

next day New Hampshire voted in favor of a declara- 
tion of independence. The final step was now to be 
taken. On the seventh of June,* Richard Henry Lee, 
of Virginia, introduced in Congress at Philadelphia, a 
resolution to the effect that the Colonies "are, and 
ought to be, free and independent States," and that a 




HOUSE IN WHICH THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
WAS WRITTEN. 



plan of federation should be immediately made and 
sent to the Colonies for consideration. In introducing 
the resolution, Mr. Lee said in substance : 

* Two days before, on the fifth of June, the declaration made by the 
Virginia General Assembly having been communicated to the Legisla- 
ture of Pennsylvania, was read and discussed in another room in the 
same Old State House, in which the Congress was in session. 



286 INDEPENDENCE. 

" The question is not whether we shall acquire an increase of territorial 
dominion, or wickedly wrest from others their just possessions, 
but whether we shall preserve or lose forever that liberty which we 
have inherited from our ancestors, which we have pursued across 
tempestuous seas, and have defended in this land against barbarous 
men, ferocious beasts and an inclement sky. If so many and distin- 
guished praises have always been lavished upon the generous defend- 
ers of Greek and Roman liberty, what shall be said of us who defend 
a liberty which is founded, not on the capricious will of an unstable 
multitude, but upon immutable statutes and titulary laws; not that 
which was the exclusive privilege of a few patricians, but which is the 
property of all ; not that which was stained by iniquitous ostracisms, or 
the horrible decimation of armies, but that which is pure, temperate 
and gentle, and conformed to the civilization of the age ? Animated 
by liberty, the Greeks repulsed the innumerable army of Persians ; 
sustained by the love of independence, the Swiss and Dutch humbled 
the power of Austria by memorable defeats, and conquered a rank 
among nations; but the sun of America shines also upon the head of 
the brave ; the point of our weapons is no less formidable than theirs ; 
here also the same union prevails, the same contempt of danger and of 
death, in asserting the cause of country. Why, then, do we longer 
delay ? Why still deliberate ? Let this happy day give birth to the 
American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but 
to re-establish the reign of peace and of law. The eyes of Europe are 
upon us ; she demands' of us a living example of freedom that may 
exhibit a contrast, in the felicity of the citizen, to the ever-increasing 
tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to pre- 
pare an asylum, where the unhappy may find solace and the persecuted 
repose. She invites us to cultivate a propitious soil, where that gen- 
erous plant which first sprang and grew in England, but is now with- 
ered by the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may revive and 
flourish, sheltering under its salubrious and interminable shade all the 
unfortunate of the human race. If we are not this day wanting in our 
duty to our country, the names of American legislators of 1776, will be 
placed by posterity at the side of those of Theseus, of Lycurgus, 
Romulus, of Xuma, of the three Williams of Nassau, and of all 
those whose memory has been and forever will be dear to virtuous 
men ! " 

The resolution was seconded by John Adams, of 
Massachusetts, and on the eleventh, a committee 
consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjc.- 



THE FOURTH OF JULY. 287 

min Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Living- 
ston, was appointed to draw up a Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. On the second of July it was resolved 
that "these Colonies are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent States ; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British crown." Late in 
the afternoon of the fourth, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence as we know it, the composition of Thomas 
Jefferson of Virginia, was finally passed and ordered 
to be engrossed for the signatures of the delegates 
from the several States.* It was not until the second 
day of August that it was thus prepared and placed 
upon the table of the President to receive the signa- 
tures. It was signed by those then present, and as 
one after another joined the body, he was called upon 
by Charles Thomson, the secretary,! to do the same, 

*The " Sons of Liberty " had been accustomed to meet under a live 
oak-tree near the house of Christopher Gadsden, in Charleston, S. C, 
and there, in 1764, it is said that he first spoke of independence. There, 
in 1786, the Sons of Liberty met, and with linked hands, pledged 
themselves to resist, when the time came, and there, on the eighth of 
August, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed to the 
people. The tree was cut down by Sir Henry Clinton in 1780. 

t Charles Thomson, the " Sam Adams of Philadelphia," a literary 
man of considerable ability, was born in County Derry, Ireland, No- 
vember 29, 1729, and died at Lower Merion, Pa., August 16, 1824. He 
was a friend of Franklin, and became Secretary of Congress the day 
of its first meeting, holding the office until the close of the war. He 
was then chosen to inform Washington at Mount Vernon of his elec- 
tion to the Presidency. Thomson then retired from public life. In 
1759, he published in London, "An Enquiry into the Alienation of the 
Delaware and Shawnese Indians," having been concerned in negotia- 
tions with the Delawares, who had given him the title " Truthteller." 
In 180S, he published, in Philadelphia, a version of the Bible in four 
volumes, in which he anticipated many of the improved translations 
of the Canterbury revision of 1881. Seven years later, he published 
" A Synopsis of the Four Evangelists," also in Philadelphia. 



288 INDEPENDENCE. 

so that the signers were not all of them members at 
the same lime, and many of them took no part in the 
deliberations on the subject. It was entitled " The 
unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States 
of America. 

It was easy to decide to separate from England, 
but not so easy to make the plan for confederation, 
which was resolved upon on the seventh of June. 
The committee to which this work was given, reported 
on the twelfth of July, but it was not until the spring 
of 1781, that Maryland, the thirteenth State, had rati- 
fied the " articles of confederation and perpetual 
union." These had been adopted by Congress in 
November, 1777, and sent to the States, but various 
reasons postponed their immediate ratification. This 
did not hinder Congress from acting as the central 
power, though all its acts needed the consent of the 
States before they became binding. 

The fact that the grants from the Crown to colo- 
nists were of a very vague nature, some extending 
from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific Ocean, or 
South Sea, as it was called,* gave rise to considerable 
confusion, and proved finally a very great difficulty in 
the way of union. The subject came to the surface 
very soon after the Declaration of Independence had 
been made. Public attention was first drawn to it, 
probably, by the action taken by the State of Maryland 
during the discussion in Congress of the objections to 
the articles of confederation, in June, 1778. 

On the twenty-second of that month, Maryland 
insisted that the boundaries of those States which 
made claims to land reaching to the Mississippi or to 

*See pp. 85, 103, no, 134. 



TROUBLE FROM THE ORIGINAL GRANTS. 289 

the South Sea, should have their limits defined to the 
westward by the Congress, and that the soil of the 
Western territories should be held for the common 
benefit of all the States.* 

February twenty-second, 1779, New Jersey, by her 
delegates, signed the articles of confederation, but 
expressed firm reliance that the candor and justice of 
the several States would, in due time, remove the 
existing inequality, and the delegates, on the twenty- 
third, presented resolutions passed by their Legisla- 
ture to the same effect, and expressing their belief 
that New Jersey was justly entitled to a right, in 
common with the other members of the Union, to 
such property westward of the frontiers of tlje several 
States as had not been granted to individuals before 
the commencement of the war, and had been gained 
by the blood and treasury of all. 

Maryland, on the twenty-first of May following, 
expressed through her delegates, her confidence that 
the Congress would make an equitable settlement of 
the conflicting interests of the different States, and 
said that she dreaded the continuation of the then 
present condition of affairs, lest after the pressure of 
the immediate calamities had passed, the causes which 
held the States together might be weakened and the 
States considering the Confederation no longer bind- 
ing, declare for disunion and independent existence. 
Maryland suggested at the same time that Virginia, by 
transferring her territory to the westward, might help 

* One of the objections to the holding of vast Western tracts by the 
favored States, seen very clearly by the people of Maryland, was that 
by selling at even low prices, they could lessen their taxes and injure 
the States which were obliged to depend upon their home resources, 
by draining them of their most desirable inhabitants. 



290 INDEPENDENCE. 

the Confederation to a solution of this grave difficulty. 

On the thirtieth of October, 1779, Congress recom- 
mended Virginia and the other States not to sell any 
of their land to the westward during the war, basing 
the recommendation on the same arguments which had 
been used by the delegates from Maryland. 

On the seventh of March, 1 780, New York came for- 
ward with a patriotic offer to permit Congress to limit 
its boundaries to the westward. This was aptly entitled 
" An act to facilitate the completion of the articles of 
confederation and perpetual union," and began with 
these words : 

Whereas nothing under Divine Providence can more effectually 
contribute" to the tranquility and safety of the United States of America 
than a federal alliance, on such liberal principles as will give satisfac- 
tion to its respective members ; and whereas the articles of confedera- 
tion and perpetual union recommended by the honorable the Congress 
of the United States of America, have not proved acceptable to all the 
States, it having been conceived that a portion of the waste and uncul- 
tivated territory within the limits or claims of certain States ought to 
be appropriated as a common fund for the expenses of the war; and 
the people of the State of New York being on all occasions disposed to 
manifest their regard for their sister States, and their earnest desire to 
promote the general interest and security, and more especially to accel- 
erate the federal alliance, by removing, as far as it depends upon them, 
the before-mentioned impediment to its final accomplishment, be it 
therefore enacted, etc. 

On the sixth of September following Congress again 
made a recommendation referring to the declarations 
of Maryland and Virginia, reminding the people 
how indispensably necessary it was to establish the 
Union on a fixed and permanent basis, and upon 
principles which should be satisfactory to all, and 
asking the States making claims to Western territory 
to remove the embarrassment which those claims con- 



WESTERN TERRITORY CEDED. 291 

tinued, since they could not be persevered in without 
endangering the stability of the Federation. 

On the tenth ol October, Congress took action 
again, this time determining how the Western terri- 
tory should be disposed of in case the States should 
transfer it to the Federal Union.* In consequence 
of this action the States began to make cession of 
their Western lands to the Federal Union. 

On the first of March, 1781, New York ceded its 
territory ; Virginia followed on the first of March, 1784, 
supplementing its act on that date by another on the 
thirtieth of December, 1788, by which it agreed to 
ratify the fifth article of the ordinance of 1787. 

On the nineteenth of April, 1785, Massachusetts 
followed ; Connecticut did the same, September 14, 
1786.1 South Carolina, August 9, 1787; North Car- 
olina (stipulating that " no regulation made or to be 
made by Congress shall tend to the emancipation of 
slaves") February 25, 1790; and Georgia, April 24, 

*The resolution provided that these lands should be formed into 
distinct Republican States, having, when admitted to the Union, the 
same rights held bv the others, and that the reasonable expenses of war 
in acquiring the ceded territory should be repaid to the States which 
had incurred it. 

t In making the cession, Connecticut reserved to herself a tract on 
the shores of Lake Erie, still known as the Western Reserve, or the 
Connecticut Reserve, jurisdiction over which she did not resign until 
May 30, icSoo. The tract comprised about four million acres, a terri- 
tory one third larger than the present State. Half a million acres of 
this were granted to certain citizens who had suffered by the burning 
of their property during the Revolution (known afterwards as the 
" Fire Lands ") and the remainder was sold in 179^ for $1,200,000.00, 
the sum being set apart for the support of education. Washington and 
others strongly opposed this compromise. See Rice's Historv of the 
Western Reserve, and "Marvland's Influence in Founding a National 
Commonwealth," bv Dr. TLrbert B. Adams. 



292 



INDEPENDENCE. 



1802. The territory ceded by each State was the 
object of separate legislation by Congress, first be- 



tfk««2 




AUTOGRAPHS OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF 
INDEPENDENCE. 

coming a dependent territory, and afterwards being 
admitted to the union as an independent member ; 
but the Northwestern Territory was the subject of 
important legislation, first by the resolution of April 



THE COS FEDERATION COMPLETE. 293 

2}, 1784, and then by the adoption of the ordinance 
July 13, 1787, which repealed the resolution of 1784. 

It will be seen from the above recapitulation that 
the States at the very beginning were with reason 
jealous of each other, and that the relative power 
which each one exerted in the confederation became 
a matter of very serious moment ; and not only this, 
but the rights which each State retained for itself, as 
well as those resigned to the federal government 
after becoming a member of the Confederation, 
were differently held in different sections, and thus 
the seeds were laid for the constant discussion of 
these questions in after years, and at last for the 
War of the Secession in 1861.* 

After the States had severally ratified the articles 
of confederation, it became their duty to frame new 
governments. This Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
shire had done in 1775. Virginia, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware, North Carolina and Maryland, 
followed in 1776; New York, Georgia and South 
Carolina, 1777 ; while Connecticut and Rhode Island 
used their royal charters under which they had suffi- 
ciently liberal governments, not forming new constitu- 
tions until 1818 and 1842 respectively. Thus the 
States were better organized than the nation. 

THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 

The celebrated ordinance of 1787 was declared by Congress to be a 
-compact between the original States and the people and States to be 
formed in the territory northwest of the Ohio River, which should for- 

* These articles of confederation were not fully ratified until March 
1, 1781, and by that time it had become apparent that thev conferred 
upon the Federal government powers wholly inadequate to its 
purposes, especially in the provision for raising a revenue, and for regu- 
lating foreign commerce. 



294 INDEPENDENCE. 

ever remain unalterable, unless by common consent. It contained but 
six comprehensive articles, providing, 

i. That no orderly person should ever be molested on account of 
his mode of worship or religious sentiments. 

2. That civil liberty should be guaranteed, the benefits of trial by 
jury, of the writ of Habeas Corpus, of proportionate representation, 
and immunity against unusual punishments, and that no law ought to 
invade private rights, or affect honest private contracts. 

3. That schools and education should forever be encouraged, and 
that good faith should always be observed in dealings with the Indians. 

4. That the territory should be a part of the United States having 
equal rights with the other portions, and that the rivers leading into 
the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi should always be free to the 
inhabitants, no less than to the other citizens of the United States. 

5. That no less than three, nor more than five States should be 
formed out of the territory, and that when these States should respect- 
ively gain a population of sixty thousand free inhabitants, they should 
be admitted to the Union with Republican constitutions of their own 
forming. 

6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the 
said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, provided always, that any person 
escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed 
in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully 
reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or ser- 
vice as aforesaid. 

There have been six subsequent additions to the territory of the 
United States, making the area at the present time about thirty-six 
hundred thousand square miles. This sum is made up as follows : 

Limits of the original thirteen States, .... 407,000 

Western claims ceded to the general government, . . 420,000 

Louisiana purchase in 1803, for $15,000,000.00, . . 1,172,000 
Florida purchased of Spain, in 1819, for $ 5,000,000.00. . 60,000 

Texas, annexed in 1845, 376,000 

New Mexico and California, ceded by Mexico, in 1848, . 546,000 

Gadsden purchase of Mexico, in 1853, for $ 10,000,000.00, . 46,000 

Alaska purchased of Russia in 1867, for $7,200,000.00, . 573>°°° 

Total 3,600,000 



CHAPTER XIV. 



NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 




Y driving Howe from Bos- 
ton, Washington had shifted 
the operations from the vi- 
cinity of that city, about 
which they had up to that 
time been mostly confined, 
and had made New York 
the scene of active strug- 
gles. The war which began 
at Lexington on the nineteenth of April, 1775, was 
stopped by a general order from Washington, announ- 
cing the cessation of hostilities, read before each reg- 
iment on the same date, in 1783. Until 1778, the 
Americans carried on the struggle with little encour- 
agement, and with no aid from without, and the con- 
flicts were mainly in the Northern and Middle States; 
but after that time the operations were more in the 
South, and the alliance with France gave encourage- 
ment as well as material strength to the patriots. 

On the ninth of July, 1776, Washington caused the 
Declaration of Independence to be read before the 
army, and it had the effect of giving a new impulse to 
all. He said, in the order for that clay, that he 
hoped it would " serve as a fresh incentive to 

295 



•296 NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

every officer and soldier to act with fidelity and cour- 
age, as knowing that now the peace and safety of his 
country depend, under God, solely on the success of 
our arms." 

His was the impartial vision of the great 

Who see not as they wish, but as they find. 

lie saw the dangers of defeat, nor less 

The incomputable perils of success; 

The sacred past thrown by, an empty rind ; 

The future, cloud-land, snare of prophets blind. 

— James Russell Lowell, /Sjj. 

The stimulus was needed. Washington had reached 
New York on the thirteenth of April, and at that time 
was in constant expectation of the arrival of the enemy. 
Besides this, there were Tories on the Committee of 
Safety, and they were very dangerous, though their 
influence was opposed by the " Sons of Liberty," 
organized in the same committee, who were ready 
for any emergency. A Tory newspaper, called " Riv- 
ington's New York Gazeteer ; or, the Conneticut, 
Hudson's River, New Jersey and Quebec weekly 
Advertiser," which had been giving aid and comfort 
to the Royalists, was, in 1775, twice attacked by the 
people, and on the second occasion, in the November 
previous to the arrival of Washington, its types had 
been melted and cast into bullets. As Governor 
Dunmore, of Virginia, had confiscated a rebel press, 
an order on him for another was given to Rivington. 

New York City was, in the opinion of Lee, not 
capable of being satisfactorily fortified, but he thought 
that it might be so protected that it would be very 
difficult to take, and this he had for some time been 
preparing for. Putnam was in command after the 
departure of Lee, until the arrival of Washington. 



THE HOWES AT NEW YORK. 297 

The British did not begin to arrive until the twenty- 
fifth of June, wheirthe first of the fleet of Sir William 
Howe * sailed into the harbor from Halifax. By the 
twenty-ninth one hundred and thirty shiploads of 
soldiers had come and debarked on Staten Island. 
On the twelfth of July, the Admiral, Lord Howe, 
entered the harbor, with troops from England, and on 
the twelfth of August the eight thousand Hessians 
whom King George had hired to help him fight his 
battles, increased the number to thirty-two thousand 
men, including the troops of Sir Henry Clinton which 
had been repulsed at Charleston. Against this army 
of veterans Washington opposed eight thousand, 
mostly poorly disciplined and not familiar with the 
art of war. The case seemed hopeless, but Washing- 
ton constantly issued animating orders, and called 
upon the men to remember that Heaven would crown 
with success so just a cause. f 

* Language was not strong enough to express the detestation in 
which the Howes were held by the Americans, though they were not so 
harsh in their measures as the British ministers would have had them. 
In his usual impetuous ardor, John Adams wrote of them one spring 
Sunday, in 1777, "The two brothers Howe will be ranked by posterity 
with Pizarro, with Borgia, with Alva, and with others in the annals of 
infamy, whose memories are entitled to the hisses and execrations of 
all virtuous men. . . I would not be a Howe for all the empires of 
the earth, and all the riches and glory thereof." 

t It was this apparent hopelessness which inspired the enemies of 
America. It led Mr. Curwen to write in his journal, under date June 
21st, 1776, " The number and strength of the American navy will prove, 
when put to the test, to be a delusive fancy: civil wars in time make 
good generals and soldiers, but the immense inequality will, I suppose, 
put an end to this war before they will have time to qualify; in any 
case, America must be ruined, perhaps desolated." It made him write 
in view of an American success, " Their activity and success is aston- 
ishing." 



298 NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

Howe transported his troops to Long Island and 
prepared to attack the Americans outside of Brooklyn. 
He routed them, and on the twenty-ninth attacked 
the fortifications at Brooklyn, obliging the Americans 
to retreat to New York. After a rest of two weeks, 
the British pursued, forcing Washington to retreat to 
Harlem Heights. During a cessation of hostilities, 
Howe endeavored to treat with Congress (not as an 
official body, but as a collection of private citizens) 
for a return to allegiance. The message was pre- 
sented to Congress on the second of September, and 
a committee consisting of Benjamin Franklin, an old 
friend of Howe, John Adams and Edward Rutledge, 
was sent to confer with him. It met him on the 
eleventh, but found his meaning in calling for a con- 
ference had been misrepresented by General Sullivan, 
the messenger. The meeting resulted in nothing. 

Washington's military genius was displayed in the 
masterly manner of the retreat from Long Island, and 
he was now to show the imperturbable persistence 
with which he carried on the war, under the most 
unfavorable circumstances, for his necessities forced 
him to retire from one position and another, until, in 
the middle of December, he was obliged to exclaim, 
,k I think the game is pretty nearly up." At the 
same date Samuel Adams, in view of the state of 
affairs, cried out almost in agony, with tears rolling 
down his cheeks, "O, my God, must we give it up ? " 

A few days after the conference with Howe, Con- 
gress chose three of its members, Franklin, Silas 
Deane* of Connecticut, and Arthur Lee of Virginia, 

* Deane was already in Paris, having gone there as Representative 
of Connecticut, in June, 1776. 



THE RETREAT THROUGH NEW JERSEY. 299 

to go to France for the purpose of negotiating a 
treaty with that nation. Their mission was destined 
to be successful, but not at once. 

Washington was not able to hold his position at 
Harlem Heights, because Howe made plans to attack 
him in the rear, and was obliged to meet the British 
at- White Plains, where he suffered a partial defeat on 
the twenty-eighth of October. On the sixteenth of 
November, Fort Washington was captured, and on 
the twentieth, Fort Lee on the opposite side of the 
Hudson, was evacuated. Then began a retreat 
through New Jersey. 

Meantime Arnold was suffering defeat at the North. 
He was driven from Lake Champlain, and lost Crown 
Point October 14th. On the eighth of December, 
Newport was taken and Providence blockaded. Five 
days later General Lee, who was at the time spread- 
ing dissatisfaction with Washington, and who 
esteemed himself a more sagacious officer, was 
captured, in consequence of his own careless confi- 
dence. His adverse influence was thus, for the time, 
happily stopped. Howe had lessened his force by 
sending a portion to Newport, and now, after follow- 
ing Washington across New Jersey, he again divided 
it, leaving a body of Hessians at Trenton on the Del- 
aware, while he went into winter quarters at New 
York. This gave Washington opportunity for the 
most brilliant stroke of the war up to the time. He 
determined to surprise the Hessians, and by suddenly 
crossing the river and approaching Trenton on Christ- 
mas evening, by two routes at once, he accomplished 
his purpose, and took one thousand prisoners. A 
few escaped, and the commander, Rahl, was killed. 



300 NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

Two days later, Congress, which had removed to 
Baltimore for safety,* voted to raise still larger forces, 
and gave to Washington the complete command of 
the army, for lack of which he had before been 
crippled in all his movements. Hope rose in the 
heart of the nation. Washington followed up his suc- 
cess, surprised Cornwallis at Princeton (Jan. 3.), and 
gradually forced Howe to withdraw his forces from 
New Jersey to Staten Island, (June 30, 1777), whence 
he sent sixteen thousand men to threaten Philadelphia 
(July 5)- Six months before Howe had sent his 
luggage on board a packet for England, supposing 
that New Jersey was permanently conquered, and the 
war over ! It had been the opinion of Washington 
himself that the first year would close the war, 
but the time was stretched on and on by the 
inefficiency of Howe and the persistence of the 
Americans.! 

As we look upon it from the vantage ground of the 
present time, it seems the most hopeless contest in 

* Congress at this period led a migratory existence. It first met at 
Philadelphia, in 1774. In December, 1776, it was at Baltimore; in 
March, 1777, it was in Philadelphia again; but on the nineteenth of 
September of that year it incontinently adjourned to Lancaster; after 
wards to York, Pa. (then known as Yorktown), the records being 
sent to Bristol. Its migrations did not stop with the peace, for on the 
twenty-first of June, 1783, frightened by some threatening soldiers, it 
adjourned to Princeton, where its sessions were held from June 30th 
to November 4th. On the twenty-sixth of the same month it met at 
Annapolis, until June 3d, 1784, receiving there (December 20th, 1783) 
the resignation of Washington as commander-in-chief. Its next ses- 
sions were held at Trenton, from November 1st, 17S4, to December 
24th; and from there it went to New York, where it convened January 
nth, 1785. It dissolved in 1789 at New York. 

t Admiral Howe, when at Halifax, had expressed his belief that 
peace would be declared within ten days after his arrival in America. 



HOPELESSNESS AND PLUCK. 



301 



» which a people ever engaged. Without government 
that had power to enforce its determination, with no 
financial credit, with an army that was constantly 
changing, composed at its best of raw and ragged 
militiamen or volunteers, the thirteen Colonies 
engaged the rich and well-prepared government of 
Great Britian, the echoes of the great deeds of whose 
army, under a Marlborough, were still ringing- 
through Europe. 

The campaign of 1777 was made memorable by the 




SARATOGA LAKE 



aid given to the Americans secretly by France, and 
by the arrival of the Marquis of Lafayette, who on the 
last day of July was made a major-general by Con- 
gress. The great effort of the British was to cut off 
the New England Colonies from New York and the 
South. To effect this, General Burgoyne with a large 
army of English, Tories, and Indians, marched from 
Canada, took Ticonderoga, was defeated in an attempt 
on Bennington, Vt., August 16 ( where he had sent a 



302 NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

body of Hessians and others, under General Baume, 
to destroy stores), by General John Stark, of Dumbar- 
ton, N. H. ; and at Oriskany, in the Mohawk valley 
(August 3), where General Herkimer " first reversed 
the gloomy scene " of the Northern campaign, to use 
the language of Washington ; and finally was twice 
defeated near Saratoga,* September 19 and October 7. 
On the seventeenth, the entire English army surren- 
dered to General Gates, on condition that they should 
be sent from Boston to England, not to take further 
part in the war. The army was long detained in the 
country however ; but the lenity shown to Bur- 
goyne did the Americans great honor in England. 
Some impression of the effect the surrender produced 
there may be obtained from a letter written by Mr. 
Curwen, when the news had been confirmed. He 
said to his correspondent, " What think you of Con- 
gress now ? of American Independence ? of laying 
the Colonies at the ministers' feet ? of Lord S.'s boast 
of passing through the continent from one end to the 
other with five thousand British troops ? and with a 
handful of men keeping that extensive continent in 
subjection ? of the invincibility of said troops ? of the 
' raw, undisciplined, beggarly rabble ' of the Northern 
Colonies ? of the humiliating surrender of a British 
general, five thousand troops, seven thousand small 
arms, and thirty-six pieces of brass artillery to the 
aforesaid rabble ? What think you of the pompous 
proclamation of the said General ? of the figure he is 
now making in the streets of Boston, campared to his 
late parading there, accompanied by his vainly fancied 

*Sir Edward Creasy includes the battle of Saratoga among the 
" Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World." 



HEROISM AT VALLEY FoRGL. 803 

invincible cohorts, now, alas ! rendered as harmless 
and inoffensive animals as you and I ? " Burgoyne, 
accompanied by Howe and Clinton, had arrived in 
Boston, May 25, 1775. Expecting a warm reception 
from many British sympathizers, and an easy victory, 
they came with their fishing-rods, as if on a party of 
pleasure. They were surprised to find that they were 
shut up in the town with no outlet but by ship. 

Meantime Howe had landed his troops and was 
advancing upon Philadelphia, when he was met by 
Washington at the Brandywine, September 11. The 
Americans were defeated, and Howe took Philadelphia 
September 26 ; but Washington showed his mettle 
by attacking Germantown on the fourth of October, 
though he was forced at last to retreat and leave 
Philadelphia to the British. Washington retired to 
winter quarters at Valley Forge, twenty miles north, 
where his brave soldiers suffered the severest trials 
with a Spartan heroism. At the same time the Penn- 
sylvania loyalists were furnishing ample supplies to 
the British in Philadelphia. Had they lived in the 
days of submarine telegraphs, the Americans might 
have been encouraged by the news that the decisive 
battles near Saratoga had led France, February 6, to 
enter into open alliance with the united Colonies 
against her old enemy England, and that reinforce- 
ments were on the way to their help. They might 
also have learned that Parliament had been so much 
alarmed as to propose conciliatory measures to the 
Colonies, and had voted to give up the taxes. As it 
was, Washington was able to say that history could 
not furnish an example of an army that suffered equal 
hardship with so much patience and fortitude. 



304 NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

The enemies of Washington took this opportunity 
to unite against him, aspersing his good name and 
denouncing his generalship. The year 1777 closed 
with the suffering soldiers shivering in their improvised 
cabins at Valley Forge, while the members of a cabal 
working against the General, were using all efforts to 
raise General Gates to his place. Benjamin Rush 
wrote to Patrick Henry that the army had no general 
at its head, though " a Gates, a Lee, or a Conway," 
might in a few weeks make it irresistible. After the 
battle of the Brandywine, John Adams wrote, "O 
Heaven, grant us one great soul ! One leading mind 
would extricate the best cause from the ruin that seems 
to await it." 

It was at this gloomy period, on the fifteenth of 
November, 1777, that Congress, composed of repre- 
sentatives of Colonies so discordant on their interests, 
habits, manners and social prejudices, that union was 
well-nigh impossible, adopted articles of " confedera- 
tion and perpetual union," and voted to submit them 
to the several States for ratification. 

Up to this time the British had lost much and 
gained little or nothing in America. They had a 
foothold at New York, Philadelphia and Newport, but 
had not penetrated into the interior, nor did it seem 
as if they could do so. The war did not look very 
hopeful to them, and when, on the anniversary of the 
battle of Bunker Hill, Congress answered the commis- 
sioners of Lord North, sent to make conciliatory 
propositions, that they did not propose to treat on 
any other basis than complete independence, they 
knew that the spirit which inspired the barons when 
they forced the Magna Charta from King John, had 



AID FROM FRANCE. 305 

not deserted their descendants, though centuries had 
intervened, and they had been planted on distant 
shores. 

• Washington did not break camp at Valley Forge * 
until after the middle of June. He found that the 
British, who had lain in Philadelphia for eight months 
with a large force, and had made no advance upon 
the defenceless region about, had been alarmed at the 
rumor that a French fleet was on its way under Vice- 
Admiral Count Charles Hector d'Estaing, an officer 
of experience, to blockade the river. General Howe, 
whom Lee called "the most indolent of mortals," 
and to whom the inaction of the army had been due, 
had been recalled at his own request a few weeks 
before (May 11), and General Henry Clinton was in 
command. He started for New York, followed by 
Washington, who caught up with him and drove him 
from the field of Monmouth on the twenty-eighth of 
June, in spite of the ill-judged movements of Lee,f 
who was in retreat when the commander arrived. 
Two days later Clinton arrived in the neighborhood 
of Sandy Hook, having lost many of his Hessians, 
and in all more than two thousand men. Washington 
went to White Plains, where he remained most of the 

* The sufferings at Valley Forge were alleviated when the news from 
France arrived, and the sixth of May was set apart for a grand 
fete. A national salute of thirteen guns was discharged amid cheers 
for the king of France, the American States and General Washington. 
The cabal against him had by this time come to an end. 

t For his behavior on this occasion, Lee was tried by court-martial 
and sentenced to be suspended from all command for a year. From 
that time he was the unsparing critic of Washington, whom he 
vigorously abused. He retired to his estate in Virginia, where 
he lived the life of a misanthropic hermit. He died in 1782, at Phila- 
delphia. 



306 



NOR THER X OPERA TIONS. 



summer watching the British who did not appear to 
wish to make any movement. 

The French alliance was not of great advantage in 
the ensuing campaign. It had brought the first 
minister to the United States, M. Gerard, and it had 
given England trouble, distracting the attention of its 
army and navy by attacks at other points than 
America, but, as Washington wrote, " Unforeseen 

and unfavorable 
c i r c u m s t ances 
lessened the impor- 
tance of French ser- 
vices in a great de- 
gree." D'Estaing 
could not attack 
New York on ac- 
count of the great 
draught of his ves- 
sels, and a storm 
kept him from be- 
ing of service when 
Newport was at- 
tacked in August. 
He sailed for the 
West Indies in No- 
vember. 
There were four other foreigners whose services 
proved of great value, however, besides Lafayette. 
They were John Kalb, a friend of Lafayette who had 
come with him ; Baron Frederick William Auguste 
Steuben, Thaddeus Kosciusko and Count Casimir 
Pulaski, who came in 1777. Steuben had been a 
soldier of Frederick the Great and was a master of 




iismwiiiiiiiiiiiJiraW 



KOSCIUSKO'S MONUMENT, FORT CLIN- 
TON, WEST POINT. 



TORY AND INDIAN MASSACRES. 307 

tactics and drill. His services were of great impor- 
tance at the time. 

The year 1778 was made noteworthy by the savage 
massacres, by the British and their Indian and Tory 
allies at Wyoming and Cherry Valley. The first 
occurred on the third of July, and was memorable for 
its atrocities, the worst of which were perpetrated by 
the Tories. One of these was commemorated by 
Whittier in verses entitled The Deatli of the Fratricide. 
The main portion of the men was with Washington, 
and the valley was protected by boys and old men, 
who were utterly defeated, being driven into a fort 
which they were obliged to surrender the next day, 
when most of them were forced to flee from the 
valley and many died from exposure. The scenes of 
slaughter are referred to by Campbell in his poem 
Gertrude of Wyoming. 

Sounds that mingled laugh and shout and scream, 
To freeze the blood in one discordant jar, 
Rung the pealing thunderbolts of war. 
Whoop after whoop with rack the ear assailed, 
As if unearthly fiends had burst their bar ; 
While rapidly the marksman's shot prevailed. 

The attack on Wyoming was led by a Tory, John 
Butler, and that on Cherry Valley was directed by his 
son Walter, then recently escaped from imprisonment 
at Albany. He was accompanied by Joseph Brant, a 
chief of the Six Nations, who was allied to the Tories by 
the fact that his sister was the mother of several of 
the children of Sir William Johnson, who had given 
trouble to the patriot cause early in the war. The 
village was burned and the inhabitants murdered or 
carried away. The war had at this time degenerated 



308 NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

into petty predatory attempts on the part of the 
British, and the American Congress had much 
deteriorated. In fact the sectional feelings of many 
had led them to forget the interests of the Union, and 
Washington was forced to say that the " common " 
interests were " moldering and sinking into irretrieva- 
ble ruin," and he urged that each State should compel 
its ablest men to attend Congress and reform the 
public abuses that had grown out of the " idleness, 
dissipation and extravagance," the speculation, pecu- 
lation and insatiable thirst for riches, that he asserted 
had taken possession of the members.* 

Operations were carried on in the West by Colonel 
George Rogers Clarke, who, secretly commissioned by 
Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia after the 
Wyoming massacre, took Kaskaskia (July 4), Cahokia, 
and Vincennes, and all the important posts on the 
Wabash and Illinois rivers. Virginia had already in 
1776 annexed "the county of Kentucky" to her do- 
minion, and now she took in the lands beyond the 
Ohio, under the name of "the county of Illinois." It 
was on the basis of these annexations and of her opera- 
tions in the French and Indian War, that she made 
her claims to vast regions of territory in the North- 
west, and not on her original charter (1606), which 
undoubtedly covered the region, nor on the charter of 
1619, for all the patents had been cancelled and the 
London Company dissolved in 1624. Success also 
attended efforts of the Colonies to obtain possession 
of the lower Mississippi, and Natchez and other places 
fell into the hands of the Americans. 

* Letter to the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Dec. 
30, 1778. 



AN ENGLISH OBSERVATION. 



309 



The Rev- 
erend Rich- 
ard P r i c e, 

a friend of 
Franklin 
and Priest- 
ley, author 
of the popu- 
1 ar work 
(p u b 1 i shed 
in 1776), en- 
titled Obser- 
vations on 
Civil Liber- 
ty a n d the 
Justice and 
Policy of the 
War zv i t h 
America, in 
his Fast-day 
sermon, de- 
livered o n 
the tenth of 
F e b r u a ry, 
1778, speak- 
ing of the de- 
pendence of 
a n at i o n's 
safety on 
-righteous 

men, said : "There is a distant country once united 
to this, where every inhabitant has in his house, as a 
part of his furniture, a book on law and government, 




BARTHOLPl'S STATUE OF THE YOUNG LAFA- 
YETTE, UNION SQUARE, NEW YORK. 



310 NORTHERN OPERATIONS. 

to enable him to understand his colonial rights; a 
musket to enable him to defend those rights; and a 
Bible, to understand and practice religion. What can 
hurt such a country ? Is it any wonder we have not 
succeeded ? How secure it must be while it preserves 
its virtue against all attacks ! " 

There were many in England who sympathized 
with America. Mr. Curwen wrote from London, 
August 8, 1785, "There appears to be a tenderness 
in the minds of many here for America, even of those 
who disapprove of the principles of an entire inde- 
pendence of the British Legislature, and ardently wish 
an effort may be taken to accommodate." At another 
time, Mr. Curwen said that all the middle classes are 
"warm Americans." The feeling among the higher 
classes is represented by two extracts from his journal. 
December 26, 1776, he writes, "Lord Barrington in 
his private judgment condemns the present war as 
unjust, and will prove ineffectual, but votes with the 
government, as a minister of state." March 2, 1778, 
"In Canon Barlow's sermon in St. Peter's, were these 
remarkable expressions, which, for a dignitary of the 
Established Church wishing to rise, are singularly 
and dangerously bold : He said, ' The war with 
America is unjust ; that they are a religious people 
and may expect a blessing, and we the reverse.' ' 

For your grieved country nobly dare to die, 
And empty all your veins for liberty. 
No pent-up Utica contracts your powers, 
But the whole boundless continent is yours ! 

Jonathan M. Sewall 1778. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SOUTHERN OPERATIONS. PEACE. 

THE scene of operations was now shifted to the 
southward, and as the Tories were more numer- 
ous there than in the North, the country was desolated 
by a partisan warfare. Clinton sent a force of twenty- 
five hundred men to attack Savannah, and as the 
place was protected by only nine hundred Americans, 
under General Robert Howe, it was, on the twenty- 
ninth of December, 1778, obliged to capitulate. 
Augusta, Ga., was taken soon after. Congress then 
sent General Lincoln *to command the forces in 
the South. On the eleventh of May the British sum- 
moned Charleston to surrender, but the Americans re- 
fused, and the British fell back upon Savannah, leaving 
affairs much the same as at the opening of the year. 

The taking of Stony Point, on the Hudson, at the 
entrance to the Highlands, forty-two miles above New 
York, was one of the most daring feats of the war. 
The attack was planned by Washington, and carried 
out by "mad" Anthony Wayne, a Pennsylvanian 
general who had been commended for bravery at 
Monmouth.* Clinton had taken the place on the 
first of June, 1779, an( ^ nac ^ fortified it. With five 

* Wayne is buried in the churchyard of " Old St. David's at Radnor," 
near Philadelphia, celebrated in Longfellow's poem. 

311 



312 SOUTHERN OPERATIONS. — PEACE. 

hundred and fifty men, Wayne surprised it on the 
night of July 16th, and took it with five hundred and 
forty-three officers and men. A detachment from 
West Point was to have made a simultaneous attack 
upon Fort Lafayette, at Verplanck's Point, on the 
opposite side of the river, but as this was not effected, 
Wayne was unable to hold Stony Point, and on the 
eighteenth, he destroyed and abandoned it ; but the 
movement checked Clinton's advances in other direc- 
tions. Lee wrote to Wayne that he considered this 
the most brilliant affair of the war, on either side, 
and also the most brilliant he knew in history. " The 
assault of Schweidnitz * by Marshall Laudon," he 
declared inferior to it. 

The affair at Stony Point was followed by a sur- 
prise of the garrison at Paulus Hook (now Jersey City), 
by Major Henry Lee ("Light-horse Harry"), after- 
wards General Lee, father of the late General 
Robert E. Lee. Lee set out on the eighteenth of 
August, and after taking nearly two hundred prison- 
ers, including three officers, effected his escape with 
but two men killed and three wounded. 

The year was memorable also for an attempt to 
retake Savannah, made by Lincoln, aided by the 
French fleet under d'Estaing. It was not successful, 
and resulted in a loss of a thousand lives, including 
that of Pulaski. To the disasters of the year must be 
added the failure of an expedition to the Penobscot, 
planned by Boston in August, the incursion of the 
British into Virginia in May, and the sacking of 

*The celebrated Baron Gideon Ernst Von Laudon took Schweidnitz 
by assault, without investment, from the Prussians, during the " Seven 
Years' War," October ist, 1761. 



NAVAL S UCCESSES. 



313 



New Haven, Norwalk and Fair Haven by General 
Tryon in July. These last were raids against unpro- 
tected and unarmed peoples, and were disgraceful to 
civilization. 

The British shipping had suffered greatly all 
through the war from American cruisers, which had 
taken millions of dollars' worth of prizes before this 
time. During 1779, one captain took into Boston 
eight prizes of the value of a million dollars, while 
eighteen were taken into New London. Still there 



o^< 



OIX.D ro-^B* if) x ab,S/ 



No. 45X^/ 




Six &0££m$. 

THIS Bill entitles iU 
. „,. B carer to Tececve 
SIX SPANISH MILLED 
DOLLARS, or the 
~V<thu> thereof imGOLT) 
or5ILVER--«ccarduw to 
aResolution of CON= 
GRES& pvMhHal Phi- 
ladelphia. Nov-Z- \ff6- 



SIX DOLLARS 



mtmMMm 



was really no American navy. The navy grew out 
of the needs of the people. The first movement was 
made in this direction after the British sloop-of-war 
Fa/con had begun to make depredations along the 
New England coast in 1775. The men of Gloucester 
repulsed Linzee, captain of this vessel, in August, 
when he entered their harbor in chase of a schooner. 
After a fight of several hours, Linzee lost thirty-five 
men. In June a sloop was taken from the British at 



314 SOUTJSEBJS OPERA TIONS. — PEACE. 

Machias, Maine, and her armament was put on 
another vessel which was used to intercept ships 
entering Boston harbor. In September commissions 
were given authorizing the taking of supplies at sea, 
and after the burning of Falmouth (October, 1775), 
the New England Colonies slowly equipped a small 
fleet which became the nucleus of the American 
navy. After the capture of the Nancy, the move- 
ment was more rapid. The cruisers had merely 
attacked merchant vessels, though with the aid 
of Spain and France they had almost destroyed 
British commerce. Under the name of "Paul Jones," 
a young Scotchman named John Paul had offered his 
services to the government at the end of 1775, and 
hoisted (as is said) the first American flag* ever 
thrown to the breezes, on the Alfred, the flag ship 
of a squadron of eight vessels that sailed from the 
Delaware River. He had captured many prizes on 
different vessels, when, early in 1778, he harrassed 
the coasting trade of Scotland, and attempted to carry 
off an earl,f thinking that it might lead to a profitable 
exchange of prisoners. In May he arrived at Brest 
with two hundred prisoners, nearly twice as many as 

* The London Chronicle of July 27th, 1776, said that " the colors of 
the American fleet have a snake with thirteen rattles, the fourteenth 
budding." In 1751, Franklin's paper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, had 
said " We do ask fish, but thou givest us serpents," and it was soon 
afterwards suggested that a cargo of rattlesnakes should be sent t<> 
London, for distribution in St. James' park. In 1754, to stimulate 
concerted action against the French and Indians, the Pennsylvania 
Gazette placed at its head a design representing a rattlesnake cut into 
eight parts, with the motto "Join, or die." In 1776, this was improved 
upon by representing the snake in thirteen parts, one for each State. 

t He was only baffled in this attempt by the earl's absence. 



EXPLOITS OF PAUL JONES. 815 

his crew, and endeavored to get a better command 
from the commissioners to France. Correspondence 
failing, he was struck by the saying in " Poor Richard's 
almanac," " If you would have your business done, go ; 
if not, send." Thereupon he went to Paris, and suc- 
ceeded, changing the name of the vessel entrusted 
to him to Lc Bon Homme Richard, in compliment 
to Franklin. With this poor vessel he encountered 
two English ships of war, in September, in the 
English Channel, and after the most terrible naval 
battle ever fought, carried the fleet into a Dutch 
port as prizes, and was received in I 7 ranee with great 
honor, the king presenting him a sword. Congress 
afterward voted thanks to him, and caused a gold medal 
to be struck and given him. There were no more 
important naval fights than those of Paul Jones 
during the war. Philip Freneau, the poet, wrote 
verses on this victory, in which he said, referring to 
the flag : 

Go on, great man, to scourge the foe, 
And bid the haughty Britons know 

They to our thirteen stars shall bend; 
The stars that clad in dark attire 
Long glimmered with a feeble fire, 
But radiant now ascend. 

The winter of 1779-80 was one of extreme sever- 
ity. Washington wrote that the army had not expe- 
rienced so much distress at any period of the war. 
He was at Morristown, New Jersey. The Hudson 
was frozen over, and New York, which Clinton had 
left early in 1780, to go to the South, was in such a 
state that he could have approached it readily over 
the ice, but he was unable to move. A great deal of 



316 SO UTHERN OPERA TIONS. - PEA C E. 

his difficulty arose from the depreciation of the conti- 
nental currency. By March, 1780, it required forty 
dollars of paper money to buy one dollar of specie.* 
New Jersey suffered, for the army was obliged to for- 
age on the region around, though it must be said that 
both the army and the citizens bore their trials with 
fortitude and patience. Washington was disquieted 
also by a court-martial which was assembled at Morris- 
town to try General Arnold for acts while in command 
at Philadelphia, in 1778.! He was pronounced guilty 
of irregular and imprudent conduct, and the sentence 
was confirmed by Congress on the twelfth of Febru- 
ary, 1780. Washington was obliged to reprimand 
Arnold, and he did it with consideration, compliment- 
ing him on his previous record ; but it seems to have 
stirred up the vile spirit of the future traitor, and to 
have led to his final downfall. 

*The depreciation of the currency is shown by the following table : 
March ist, 1778, one dollar in specie was worth $1.75 in paper ; Sept. 
1st, 177S, it was worth $4.00; March ist, 1779, it was worth $10.00; 
Sept. ist, 1779, it was worth $18.00; March ist, 1780, it was worth 
$40.00; Dec. rst, 1780, it was worth $100.00; and by May ist, 17S1, 
one dollar in coin would buy from $200.00 to $500.00 of paper money. 

t These acts of Arnold are 'referred to in a letter written by Richard 
Peters, who was secretary of the Board of War from 1776 to 17S1, to 
Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State under Washington, published 
in Breck's "Recollections." Peters says that he was sent to Phil- 
adelphia, in June, 1778, by orders of Washington, to secure clothing 
and stores secreted by persons who had remained in the city during its 
occupation by the British, and that when he left, he placed fifty 
thousand dollars in Arnold's hands to pay for stores. This money 
Arnold converted to his own use, purchasing a country-seat with a por- 
tion of the proceeds. He was also detected in appropriating public 
stores to his own use. Peters adds : " When his traitorous conduct at 
West Point became public, neither Colonel Pickering nor myself were 
the least surprised at it." 



SIEGE OE CHARLESTON. 



317 




LORD COENWALLIS. 



After a long and tempestuous voyage, Clinton 
arrived off the coast of South Carolina, towards the 
end of January, and two weeks later embarked, about 
thirty miles below Charleston. On the twentieth of 
March his vessels of war crossed the bar, and the 
siege of the place was begun and carried on with the 



318 SOUTHERN OPERATIONS. — PEACE. 

greatest precision. On the twelfth of May, the city 
was obliged to capitulate to the superior forces, and 
on the fifth of June, Clinton sailed for the North, 
fondly thinking that the South was subdued, leaving 
Cornwallis to carry the war into North Carolina and 
Virginia. 

The position was no sinecure. The Carolinas were 
guarded by three devoted patriots, General Francis 
Marion, who had taken part in the defence of Sulli- 
van's Island, in 1776 ; General Andrew Pickens, a 
Pennsylvanian ; and General Thomas Sumter, a Vir- 
ginian, who, like Pickens, was of Huguenot descent, and 
like him also, had been engaged in the Cherokee War, 
in 1 76 1 ; who were adepts in guerilla warfare, and 
gave the British and Tories constant anxiety, attack- 
ing them at unexpected times, and capturing superior 
forces. They and their men shrunk from no priva- 
tion, and thought no attempt too hazardous to be 
made. Besides these, General Kalb was sent by 
Washington to strengthen the cause, and Lincoln 
was superseded by Gates. Kalb and Gates met 
the British at Camden (August 16th), thirty miles 
northeast of Columbia (S. C), and were defeated with 
great loss, among the killed being Kalb himself,* who 
had done his utmost to stem the retreating Continen- 
tals. Cornwallis was supported by Francis Rawdon 
Hastings (afterwards Baron Rawdon, Earl of Rawdon 
and Marquis of Hastings), usually called Lord Rawdon, 
who had taken part in the battle of Bunker Hill. 

*A resolution was adopted by Congress in the following October 
authorizing the erection of a monument to the memory of Kalb, 
and one hundred and two years afterward, in February, 1883, an 
appropriation of ten thousand dollars was made to carry the resolution 
into effect. Annapolis, Md., was chosen as the site of the monument. 



CORNWALLIS RUTHLESS. 319 

Gates, who had come from the North with loud boasts 
that he should " Burgoyne " Cornwallis, took to his 
heels and rode two hundred miles in three days, 
apparently careless about his army, which, with the 
exception of the division commanded by Kalb, did 
itself little credit. 

Cornwallis was elated by the result at Camden, and 
entered upon the most severe course towards the 
Americans. He erected a gallows upon which to 
hang all who had once borne arms with the British 
and had afterwards joined the Americans, and all who 
had given their parole. His men ruthlessly destroyed 
property on every hand, and put to death many with 
utter recklessness. For this he was applauded by 
the home government, which told him to act upon 
the supposition that no good faith or justice was to be 
expected from the Americans. 

Gates, to whom the defeat at Camden was due, had 
been appointed in opposition to the judgment of 
Washington, who preferred Greene, and now Con- 
gress gave the command to that officer, who found 
himself at the head of but two thousand men, opposed 
to Cornwallis, flushed by victory and stimulated by 
the support of his government. The country had 
been roused, however, and patriots gathered on all 
hands to protect their homes. Cornwallis sent a 
force under Major Patrick Ferguson to secure the 
upper country, intending to meet him at Charlotte, 
the capital of Mecklenburg County. It was in this 
county that the patriots had met in May, 1775, and 
passed resolutions strongly savoring of independence, 
and it was still full of determination. Cornwallis 
soon pronounced it, with reason, the " Hornet's Nest 



320 



-SO UTH EKN OPERA TIONS. — PEA CE. 



of North Carolina ! " Ferguson was attacked at King's 
Mountain, on the line between North and South 
Carolina, and his entire force either killed or captured, 
on the seventh of October, by an army of inferior 
numbers, but composed of hardy mountaineers, of 
Huguenot descent, who were not prepared for a cam- 
paign, but merely determined to repulse the invad- 
ers. 

They did more than they knew, for the advance of 

Cornwallis was effectually 
checked, and he began to 
retreat to the southward. 

Here the story of affairs 
in the South must be inter- 
rupted to tell the sad tale 
of the treason of Arnold. 
Six months after he had 
been so mildly reprimanded 
by Washington, Arnold 
made overtures to the Brit- 
ish, and obtained command 
of West Point, one of the 
most important posts of the 
Americans, in order to betray it to them. His plot 
was defeated by the capture of Major John Andre, 
who had been the medium of communication between 
Clinton and Arnold, as he was about to enter the Brit- 
ish lines with plans of West Point concealed in his 
stockings. 

Within half a mile of Tarrytovvn, he was met by three 
of the alert Westchester farmers who had been put 
upon their guard by the fact that the British made 
frequent raids through the " Neutral Ground," in 




JOHN ANDRE. 



EXECUTION OF ANDBE. 321 

search of plunder.* They were astonished to find that 
they had intercepted a spy, and took Andre to the 
nearest post, North Castle, whence information was 
despatched to Arnold and Washington, who were to 
have met on the twenty-fifth of September, at the 
house of Beverley Robinson, opposite West Point, then 
the headquarters of Arnold. Washington did not 
receive the despatch until he had reached Robinson 
House, and then Arnold had affected his escape. It 
was in season, however, to prevent the escape of 
Andre, who, after a patient trial, was hanged at 
Tappan, on the second of October. The care with 
which he was tried was in marked contrast to the 
action of the British in a similar case, that of Nathan 
Hale, a graduate of Yale College, who was executed 
by Lord Howe, at New York, on the twenty-second 
of September, 1776. Both Hale and Andre were 
young, intelligent, and handsome in personal appear- 
ance. Both entered the enemy's lines to get infor- 
mation, but Andre was treated with courtesy, while 
Hale had received but brutal and inhuman roughness. 
He was refused the use of a Bible, and a letter which 
he had written to his mother was destroyed, in order, 
as his custodian said, "that the rebels should never 
know that they had a man who could die with such 
firmness " as he displayed. 

* The " Neutral Ground " was a region stretching some thirty miles 
north and south between the American and British lines, including 
Westchester County, at this time desolated by the " Skinners," sympa- 
thizing with the Americans, and the " Cow boys," inclining to the 
British. The captors of Andre were John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart 
and David Williams. They refused his offered bribes, but were so 
careless of fame as to forget to leave their names at headquarters 
when they surrendered the prisoner. 



322 SO UTHERN OPERA TIONS. — PEA CE. 

Arnold escaped to a British vessel, and was 
amply rewarded for his treachery in money and mili- 



MONl'MENT TO PAULDING, WILLIAMS AND VAN WAKT. 

tary rank, though the officers who were compelled 
to associate with him held him in detestation.* 

* It was related of a distinguished English earl that when some 
one proposed to present Arnold to him, he declined, saying, " No, I 
leave him to the executioner." 

Curwen writes, that on one occasion Earl Surrey " happened to 
espy Arnold, the American seceding general, in the House [of Com- 
mons], sent him a message to depart, threatening, in case of refusal, 
to move for breaking up the gallery ; to which the General answered 
that he was introduced there by a member; to which Lord Surrey 
replied, he might under that condition stay, if he would promise not 
to enter it again ; with which General Arnold complied. This is the 
second instance of public disrespect he has met with : [sic] the King 
having been forced to engage his royal word not to employ or pension 
him; a just reward for treachery, which is ever odious." Elizabeth 
Arnold died in the poorhouse, at Norwich, Conn., in 1852, aged 
92. She was a cousin of Benedict, and was the last of his kin in 
that vicinity. 



I) A MEL MORGAN, 



323 



Washington thought that Arnold was so deficient in 
feeling and "so hackneyed in villainy," that he could 
continue the most sordid pursuits without remorse. 
Congress gave a farm and a pension to each of the 
captors of Andre, and a silver medal was delivered 
to each of them at headquarters, by Washington. 




VIEW KKOM WEST POINT. 



In the South, Cornwallis sent Colonel Banister 
Tarleton, towards the end of 1780, to attack Colonel 
Daniel Morgan, who was advancing towards the dis- 
trict of " Ninety-six," in South Carolina. Morgan 
was an officer of experience. He had been with 
Braddock in 1775, had been taken prisoner at Que- 
bec at the time of Arnold's expedition, and was con- 



324 'SO UTHEBN OPERA TIONS. — PEA CE. 

spicuous at Saratoga. He was now commanding a 
force nearly as great as that of Tarleton (but not 
like his composed of disciplined men), which he had 
recruited in Georgia and North Carolina. The two 
forces met on the seventeenth of January, at a place 
in Spartanburgh, S. C, known as " Hannah's Cow- 
pens," from the fact that it belonged to a grazing 
farm of one Hannah. Tarleton was routed by Mor- 
gan, and pursued twenty miles by Colonel Washing- 
ton.* The British lost eight hundred men and all 
their cannon and arms, while the Americans had but 
twelve killed and sixty wounded. It was considered 
by the British, that no other action of the campaign 
reflected so much dishonor to their arms, and on 
both sides of it was pronounced the most extraordinary 
victory of the war. 

Cornwallis was thunderstruck, but burning his bag- 
gage, entered upon a fruitless pursuit of Morgan, and 
at last, on the fifteenth of March, 1781, encountered 
the whole force of Greene at Guilford Court House, 
where a battle was fought that resulted in favor of the 
British, but left them so much weakened that Corn- 
wallis was forced to give up North Carolina, and 
actually made the defeated army his pursuers. Dur- 
ing the summer the war subsided, but on the eighth 
of September, Greene, assisted by Marion and Pick- 
ens, and the cavalry of Lee and Colonel Washing- 

* William Augustine Washington was a distant relative of the 
Commander-in-chief. He was born in Stafford County, Va., Febru- 
ary 28, 1752, and had been engaged in the battles of Long Island, 
Trenton and Princeton. He received a silver medal from Congress 
for his behavior at Cowpens, and one of gold was given to Morgan. 
Washington was taken prisoner at Eutaw Springs, and was not 
released until peace was declared. 



GREENE GAINS THE SOUTH. 325 

ton, met the combined forces of the British at Eutaw 
Springs, and drove them from the field with great loss. 
Greene's advance was checked, however, by the 
enemy, who were obliged to decamp during the next 
night. Thus Greene had gained the South. The 
British were powerless, and Cornwallis pressed all his 
efforts to end the war on the soil of Virginia. In the 
spring and summer of 1781, Cornwallis pursued a 
devastating war in Virginia, gaining no advantages, 
and becoming thoroughly disgusted with his want of 
success, but destroying millions of dollars' worth of 
property. Washington saw his own home at Mount 
Vernon in great danger, but he said he would prefer 
to see it in ruins rather than that it should be saved 
by dishonorable means. Arnold at this time attacked 
and burned Richmond, and Lafayette was sent to 
operate against him. 

The British much weakened the little hold that 
they had had in the South by an unwarranted act of 
cruelty on the part of Lord Rawdon, who, on the 
fourth of August, 1781, hung Isaac Hayne, who after 
the fall of Charleston had gone to the city to get 
relief for his wife and children from the small-pox, and 
had been forced to accept British protection (or the 
prison-ship) on condition that he should not be called 
upon to bear arms as a return for the relief. The 
British afterwards called upon him to take up arms for 
them, and he took the patriot side, considering that 
the British had broken their agreement. He was 
afterwards taken prisoner. 

By causing Clinton to believe that he was intending 
to make an attack upon New York, Washington led 
him to strive to protect himself at the expense of 



326 -SO UTHEHN OP Eli. IT10N S. — PEA CE. 

Cornwallis, and it was not until late in August that 
his own army even became aware of the fact that the 
real point of attack was in Virginia. By skilful 
manoeuvring, Washington brought about a junction 
of the forces of Rochambeau* (who had come from 
France at the suggestion of d'Estaing, after his return 
in 1780), and had himself actually reached the 
Delaware before Clinton fathomed his plans. Then 
Arnold was sent to ravage and burn New London, 
Conn., which was done September 6th, the fort at 
Groton Hill being taken and its soldiers murdered after 
surrender. This was the fitting place for the end of 
the exploits of the traitor in America, who was born 
at Norwich, a few miles distance up the Thames. 

Washington was not turned from his course by this 
diversion of Arnold, and arrived at Philadelphia on 
the thirtieth of August. He was received with 
enthusiasm, and there was great curiosity as to his 
destination. The army passed through the city on 
the second of September, its line stretching nearly 
two miles, and on the next day the French troops 
followed, eight thousand strong. On each occasion 
there was the utmost enthusiasm on the part of the 
citizens. The President of Congress, and the fashion 
of the city, attended a grand review of the French 
army, and there was a banquet to Rochambeau and the 
French Minister, Luzerne, f during which despatches 

* Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur de Rochambeau. His march 
from Newport to North Castle, N. Y., was performed in a masterly 
manner. It was at first intended that the attack should be made 
on N. Y. 

t Anne Cesar de la Luzerne arrived at Boston August 3, 1779. 
and was received with great respect. On the 25th he visited Harvard 
College, the President making an address to him in Latin. He 
returned to France in 1783. 



CORNWALLIS SURRENDERS. 327 

arrived announcing that the Count De Grasse* had 
arrived in the Chesapeake, with the naval force 
upon which Washington had anxiously depended for 
aid in his approaching contest with Cornwallis. The 
fifth of September witnessed a naval conflict between 
De Grasse and the commander of the English fleet 
that Clinton had sent from New York. The loss of 
the British was great, and after remaining five days 
in sight of the French, the English returned to New 
York, leaving De Grasse master of the bay. 

Cornwallis had at first been so sanguine of success, 
feeling that he had only Lafayette to oppose him, 
that he had offered to send a portion of his troops to 
help Clinton against Washington. Before September 
ended, he found himself shut up at Yorktown by the 
combined French and American forces which men- 
aced him both on land and water, while he, however, 
had hope that Clinton would come to his help, and 
Washington was dismayed by a proposition made by 
De Grasse to keep to sea, leaving but two vessels at 
the mouth of York River. At the urgent entreaty of 
Washington and Lafayette, this purpose was not 
carried out. By degrees the position of the British 
became less and less tenable, and by the seventeenth 
of October, Cornwallis proposed to surrender. On 
the nineteenth, the British force marched out between 
the French and American troops ranged on opposite 
sides of the field, and laid down their arms, while 
Major General O'Hara, acting for Cornwallis (whose 
absence was excused on account of " indisposition"), 
surrendered the English general's sword to General 

* Francois Joseph Paul, Count de Grasse-Tilly, one of the most 
renowned of French captains, was born at Valette, in 1723. 



328 



SOUTHERN OPERATIONS. — PEACE. 



Lincoln, who had been obliged to give up his sword to 
Cornwallis, at Charleston, eighteen months before. 
The capitulation was drawn up by a son of that Lau- 
rens, formerly President of Congress, who had been 
imprisoned in the tower of London, of which Cornwal- 
lis had been constable. 

The French influence in bringing about the sur- 
render of Cornwallis can never be forgotten. Leav- 
ing out of the ac- 
count Lafayette, 
who was of the 
greatest assistance 
by his bravery and 
enthusiasm for the 
cause, and Steuben, 
who was led to en- 
ter the American 
army through 
French influence, 
the entire naval 
force, without 
which the effect 
could hardly have been produced, was French, and of 
the sixteen thousand troops, seven thousand were of 
that nation. 

In thus mentioning the American indebtedness to 
the French, it must not be permitted to detract from 
the praise that should be awarded to Washington, 
whose calm perseverance and skilful direction of the 
campaign was the real cause of its success. He 
ordered that Divine services should be performed in 
all the brigades the next day, and that the soldiers 
should "universally attend, with that seriousness of 




HEADQUARTERS OF CORNWALLIS AT 
TORKTOWN. 



TRANSPORTS OF JOY. 



329 



deportment and gratitude of heart which the recog- 
nition of such reiterated and astonishing interposi- 
tions of Providence demand of us." 

Congress was transported with joy. It decreed 
that thanks should be given to Rochambeau and De 
Grasse, and that a column should be raised at York- 
town, commemorative of the alliance of France and 
the United States, and of the victory of their arms, 




HOUSE IN WHICII THE ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION WERE 
SIGNED AT YORKTOWN. 



and it appointed a day of thanksgiving and prayer to 
God for his signal interposition. The same feelings 
were excited throughout the States, for it was felt 
that war was over. Count De Vergennes sent 
the information from Versailles to Franklin, who 
was in Paris on the nineteenth of November. He 
had himself received it the same evening, and wrote 



330 SO UTHEUN OPERA TIONS. — PEA CE. 

at eleven at night. Franklin was in ecstasy of joy, 
and said that there was no " parallel in history of 
two entire armies being captured from the same 
enemy in any one war." Paris was illuminated three 
successive nights, and there were great rejoicings, 
and many illuminations in other parts of France. 

The news reached England on the twenty-fifth of 
November, and Parliament met without delay. There 
was a general opposition to the prosecution of the 
war, and a resolution was offered that all further 
efforts to reduce the revolted Colonies be given up. 
The King was stubborn, but at last, in March, 1782, 
a resolution was passed in the House of Commons 
that all who should advise continuing the war should 
be deemed enemies of the King and country.* On 
the twentieth of March, Lord North was obliged to 
dissolve his ministry. Lord Rockingham was then 
with the utmost reluctance called to the head of 
affairs, and he accepted on condition that the inde- 
pendence of the United States should be acknowl- 
edged. 

Franklin was consulted at Paris, and he expressed a 
willingness to negotiate for peace, provided France 
were included. A preliminary treaty was accordingly 
signed on the thirtieth of November, 1782, by the 

*Curwen writes, " As soon as the joyful tidings of the ministers' 
defeat and the nation's deliverance was announced in the lobby and 
avenues of the House to the numerous multitudes that waited in 
anxiety and perturbation to know the fate of their country, the most 
vehement and heartfelt shouts of acclamation pierced the ear, if they 
did not reach the heart of the minister, now tottering on the Treasury 
bench." The Government made efforts to restrain the people from 
illuminations, in London, but not with entire success. The members 
who had conquered the ministry were hailed by the multitude " as the 
saviors of their country. " 



A BITTER PILL. 331 

three powers. Franklin introduced Thomas Gren- 
ville, the English representative at Versailles, and 
there was much amusement at seeing, as Bancroft 
says, " the dismissed Postmaster-general for America, 
at the request of the British Secretary of State, 
introduce the son of the author of the Stamp Act as 
the British Plenipotentiary, to the minister for foreign 
affairs of the Bourbon king." 

On the fifth of December, 1782, a dark and foggy 
day, King George III. came into the House of Lords, 
announced by a "tremendous roar of artillery," to 
acknowledge formally the independence of the United 
States. He took his seat upon the throne, dressed in 
his royal robes, and, with evident agitation, drew 
from his pocket the scroll containing his speech. His 
usual impressive and clear delivery left him, and he 
spoke with hesitation, a choked utterance and great 
embarrassment. He said, " I lost no time in giving 
the necessary orders to prohibit the further prosecu- 
tion of offensive war upon the continent of North 
America. Adopting, as my inclination will always 
lead me to do, with decision and effect whatever I col- 
lect to be the sense of my parliament and my people, 
I have pointed all my views and measures in Europe, 
as in North America, to an entire and cordial recon- 
ciliation with the Colonies. Finding it indispensable 
to the attainment of this object, I did not hesitate to 
go to the full length of the powers vested in me, and 
offer to declare them " — Here he paused, and was 
in evident agitation, either embarrassed in reading his 
speech by the darkness of the room, or affected by a 
very natural emotion. In a moment he resumed — 
"and offer to declare them free and independent 



332 SOUTHERN OPERATIONS. — PEACE. 

States. In thus admitting their separation from the 
crown of these kingdoms, I have sacrificed every con- 
sideration of my own to the wishes and opinions of 
my people. I make it my humble and ardent prayer 
to Almighty God, that Great Britain may not feel the 
evils which might result from so great a dismember- 
ment of the Empire, and that America may be free 
from the calamities which have formerly proved in 
the Mother-Country how essential monarchy is to the 
enjoyment of constitutional liberty. Religion, lan- 
guage, interests and affection may, and, I hope, will, 
yet prove a bond of permanent union between the 
two countries." This speech was delivered in the 
presence of the Lords and Commons, and in the 
audience were Copley, West, and some American 
ladies. It was reported by Elkanah Watson. The 
final treaty was signed at Fontainbleau, but not until 
September 3, 1783. 

Meantime there had been no important military 
operations in America, and the British, shut up at 
first in a few seaboard towns,* had evacuated Savan- 
nah, July 11, 1782, Charleston, December 14, and New 
York, November 25, 1783. On the nineteenth of April, 
1783, Washington disbanded the army, reminding 
them that the day completed eight years since the 
conflict at Lexington, and saying that, the victory 
having been won, nothing remained " but for the 

*Sir Henry Clinton was superseded in New York by Sir Guy 
Carleton, formerly Governor of Quebec, in the spring of 1782, and 
Washington established his headquarters at Newburg. to watch his 
movements. He was joined in September by Rochambeau with his 
forces, at Verplanck's Point, below Fishkill. There the two armies 
encamped side by side, the most friendly relations existing between 
both officers and men. 



THREATS AND MUTINY. 333 

actors of this mighty scene to preserve a perfect 
unvarying consistency of character through the very 
last act, to close the drama with applause, and to 
retire from the military theatre with the same appro- 
bation of angels and men which has crowned all their 
former virtuous actions." 

Before the army was disbanded the men were in a 
state of inquiet, and as their pay was in arrears, an 
anonymous address, said to have been written by 
Major John Armstrong, was circulated at Newburg 
in 1783, in which Congress was threatened. In the 
spring there was a mutiny in the Pennsylvania line, 
and a body of troops actually marched upon Congress 
itself. In both cases the coolness and tact of Wash- 
ington proved equal to the emergency, and actual 
conflict was avoided. 

On the thirteenth of May the officers of the army 
formed themselves into a society, called after the 
Roman patriot (who was taken as a man of like 
spirit with Washington), the society of the Cincinnati. 
General Knox drew up the plan of organization, and 
the first meeting was held at the headquarters of 
General Steuben, at the old Verplanck house, near 
Peekskill. The object was to establish a society of 
friends, who should cherish national honor and union 
between the States, and maintain brotherly kindness 
toward each other. The order still exists, composed 
of the descendants of the original members.* 

* The formation of this society was looked upon with much concern 
all through the country, as an attempt to elevate the military above 
the civil classes, and to establish a hereditary order of nobility. The 
Legislatures took the matter up, beginning with Massachusetts, and 
Judge Burke, of South Carolina, denounced it in a pamphlet, but the 
wisdom of Washington completely allayed the ill feeling. 



334 SO UTHERN OPERA T10NS. — PEA GE. 

As the dissolution of the army was about to be 
ordered, Washington on the eighth of June addressed 
a letter to the Governors of the States, in which he 
discussed the four essential basis for the prosperity 
of the States as an independent power. They were, 
in brief — 

I. An indissoluble union of the States, under one 
federal head, and a perfect acquiescence of the several 




WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBl'KG. 

States in the full exercise of the prerogative vested in 
such head by the Constitution. 

II. A sacred regard to public justice in discharg- 
ing debts and fulfiling contracts made by Congress 
for the purpose of carrying on the war. 

III. The placing of the militia of the several parts 
of the States on a regular, uniform and efficient foot- 
ing. "The militia must be considered as the palla- 
dium of our security." 

IV. A disposition to forget local prejudices and 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELLS. 335 

policies, to make mutual concessions, and to sacrifice 
individual advantages to the interests of the commu- 
nity. 

On the second of November, Washington issued 
from Newburg his farewell address to the army, in 
which he reviewed the war, pronouncing the perse- 
verance of the army little short of a standing miracle, 
exhorted them to the strongest attachment to the 
Union, and solemnly commended them to the protec- 
tion of God, as he had already done in writing to the 
Governors. 

Preparing now to go to Annapolis to deliver to 
Congress the commission that had been given him at 
the beginning of the struggle, Washington stopped 
at New York, and there, at " Fraunces' Tavern," 
on Broad street, not far from Whitehall Ferry, he 
bade farewell to the officers of the army. Having 
drunk a health to them, he said, " I cannot come 
to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged 
if each of you will come and take me by the hand." 
General Knox was the first to advance, and Washing- 
ton was affected to tears. Not a word was uttered 
as one after another of the veterans approached and 
pressed the commander's hand, and he passed from 
them on foot to the ferry in the same quiet manner. 

His passage through New Jersey, Pennsylvania 
and Maryland was like the progress of a conqueror, 
and he laid down his commission in the presence 
of an imposing company of ladies and public dig- 
nitaries, saying as he closed his remarks, " I con- 
sider it an indispensable duty to close this last 
solemn act of my official life by commending the 
interests of our dearest country to the protection 



336 



SO UTHEEN OPERA TIONS. — PEA CE. 



of Almighty Gocl, and those who have the superin- 
tendence of them to his holy keeping." 

The next day he arrived at Mount Vernon, pre- 
pared to enjoy Christmas Eve, and, as he said in a letter 
to Governor Clinton, to spend the remainder of his 
days " in cultivating the affections of good men, and 
in the practice of the domestic virtues." 

O, for a drop of that terse Roman's ink 

Who gave Agricola dateless length of days, 

To celebrate him fitly, neither swerve, 

To phrase unkempt, nor pass discretion's brink, 

With him so statue-like in sad reserve, 

So diffident to claim, so forward to deserve ! 




COOKING THE TURKEY IN OLD TIMES. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

PEACE did not bring quiet and order immediately, 
and for several years the country was involved 
in the discussion of questions which did not readily 
resolve themselves. The union between the States, 
entered with reluctance, and never resorted to except 
in time of fear and under the pressure of danger from 
abroad or from enemies at home, had become weak ; 
commerce was prostrate ; currency seemed to be in a 
state of confusion, from which order could not easily 
be brought ; the power of the Confederate Congress, 
always undefined and precarious,* was now little 
respected, and even the representatives of the States 
scarcely thought its meetings of sufficient importance 
to demand their attendance. 

In this condition of affairs men were ready to 
take rash measures to secure relief, and insurrections 
broke out in different portions of the land. Goaded 
by poverty, harrassed by creditors, and seeing no 

* The condition of affairs is clearly indicated by Breck in his " Rec- 
ollections." " The laws were a dead letter ; the States, collectively 
and individually, were bankrupt ; the public debt at ten or twelve 
dollars for a hundred ! Each State was pulling against the others, and 
the fruit of our seven years' war foi independence did not then 
appear worth gathering. Disunited from Maine to Georgia, the 
elements of self-government seemed to be lost, and we were fast sink- 
ing into anarchy and confusion." 

337 



338 FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

reasonable hope for relief at the hands of the irreso- 
lute and almost powerless Congress, many recklessly 
determined to oppose the collection of debts or taxes, 
to demand the emission of paper money, or to set up 
independent governments of their own, or, as in the 
case of Vermont,* to coquette with Canada. Before 
the new government was established, the inhabitants 
of Eastern Tennessee, who, in 1 77 1, had formed them- 
selves into the " Watauga Association," independent 
of all English governments, organized the " State of 
Franklin," under the laws of which they lived from 
1785 to 1788. 

It was evident that a better understanding between 
the States was requisite, and that their relations to 
the central government should be denned. Before 
the war had closed, Alexander Hamilton had broached 
the subject of the formation of a National Constitu- 
tion, and the feeling had been growing ever since 
that this should be done. The demands of trade 
proved the stimulating influence which finally 
brought the people to act, for the merchants saw 
that, owing to the want of a uniform system, for- 

* When Vermont was first settled, in 1724, near Brattleborough, the 
spot was supposed to be within the limits of Massachusetts. Later, 
Governor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, claimed it for his State, 
and it became known as " New Hampshire Grants." In 1763, New 
York claimed it, and attempted to dispossess the settlers. Under 
Ethan Allen and others the people resisted, and whipped with beechen 
rods every officer sent to enforce processes of ejection. The strife 
continued for years, when Governor Tryon offered bounties for the 
leaders, who retorted by offering a reward for the apprehension of the 
attorney-general of New York. The revolution stopped the contro- 
versy, and in 1776, the settlers asked to be admitted to the Confed- 
eracy, but in vain. The next year the State declared its independence, 
and again asked to be admitted. Owing to the jealousies of other 
States, she was kept waiting until March 4, 1791. 



.1 NATIONAL (JON VENT ION. 339 

eigners were reaping harvests which should belong 
to Americans. It was this that led to the meeting 
of citizens of Maryland and Virginia to arrange some 
plan for regulating the commerce of the Chesapeake 
and the Potomac. These commissioners met first, in 
1785, at Alexandria, Va., and also at Mount Vernon, 
James Madison being of the number. They found 
their purposes could not be attained without enlarged 
powers, and a convention was effected at Annapolis 
the following year, at which five States were repre- 
sented. Hamilton was present on this occasion, and 
took the opportunity to renew his proposition, first 
made in 1780, for a National Constitutional Conven- 
tion, which, it was agreed, should be called to meet in 
May, 1787, at Philadelphia. 

Virginia was the first to take action upon this prop- 
osition, and right nobly did its General Assembly 
express itself, saying that the crisis had arrived at which 
the people were to decide the solemn question whether 
they would reap the just fruits of independence and 
of union, acquired at the cost of so much blood, or 
would allow their unmanly jealousies and prejudices 
to wrest them away, and calling upon the other States 
to send delegates to a convention to devise and dis- 
cuss all such alterations and provisions as might be 
necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate 
to the exigencies of the Union. Other States followed, 
and Congress doubtfully issued a call of its own, lim- 
iting the purposes of the Convention to the revision of 
the Constitution. The Convention actually met at the 
State House, in Philadelphia, on the fourteenth of May, 
1787. So slow were the people even to consider the 
propositions for a closer union, that it was not until 



340 FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

eleven days later that a majority of the States were 
represented and the body able to proceed to business. 
Washington was chosen President. The deliberations 
lasted four months, and then a Constitution was pre- 
sented to the States for acceptance. 

While this august body was sitting in Philadelphia, 
the last session of the Continental Congress was in 
progress at New York. It rendered itself memorable 
by passing " the most notable law ever enacted by 
representatives of the American people" — the law 
setting up the Northwestern Territory. Virginia, 
Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut had ceded 
to the general government their rights to the vast 
territory northwest of the Ohio River, and treaties 
had disposed of the titles of various tribes of Indians 
to the region. Before these cessions had been effected, 
in 1784, a committee of Congress of which Jefferson 
was chairman, had presented a plan for the organiza- 
tion of this territory, by the formation of seventeen 
States, * all to be free after 1800 ; but the project was 
postponed until the title should be perfected, and in 
the meantime the prohibition of slavery was voted 
down. 

The ordinance of 1787 f provided that not more 
than five nor less than three States should be formed 
from the territory, and its chief provisions were made 
a solemn compact between the people of the thirteen 
States and the population that should in the future 

*The names that Mr. Jefferson suggested for ten of these States were 
Sylvania, Michigania, Cheronesus, Assenisipia ( from Assenisipi, 
Rock River), Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypo- 
tamia, and Pelisipia. 

t See page 293. 



THE OHIO COMPANY. 341 

occupy the Northwestern Territory. It provided for 
universal freedom, religious and civil — for all except 
criminals — and set apart one section in every town- 
ship for the support of common schools, and two entire 
townships for the establishment of a university, declar- 
ing that " religion, morality and knowledge being 
necessary to good government, schools and the means 
of education shall forever be encouraged." 

This ordinance established the character of the 
region, and led to the formation of " The Ohio Com- 
pany," composed largely of army officers and others 
who had advanced money to the government, and had 
been impoverished by receiving in return the depre- 
ciated continental currency. Manasseh Cutler of 
Massachusetts, as agent of this company, bought a 
million and a half acres of land on the Ohio and Scioto 
rivers, and the first settlement was effected in 1788, 
at Marietta. The States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan and Wisconsin were added to the Union 
from this rich domain. General Arthur St. Clair, 
then President of Congress, became first Governor of 
the new Territory. 

The Constitutional Convention was one of the 
most noteworthy bodies ever convened, not only by 
reason of the fact that it was the first attempt to 
establish a national government upon a written con- 
stitution, but also on account of the illustrious 
men who composed the body. Among them were 
George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James 
Madison, John Dickinson, John Langdon, Nicholas 
Gilman, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Elbridge 
Gerry, Gouverneur Morris, Charles Pinckney, Edmund 
Randolph, Rufus King and John Rutledge. 



342 FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

Governor Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, gave 
form to the discussion that followed the organization 
of the Convention, by proposing, on the twenty-ninth 
of May, 1787, a legislature chosen by the people 
(not by the States), which should elect members of 
an executive and a judiciary department. It was 
objected to because, in the language of Mr. Lansing, 
of New York, it destroyed the sovereignty of the 
several States, by committing to the general govern- 
ment " all power except what may be exercised in 
the little local matters." Another form was pro- 
posed the same day by Charles Pinckney of South 
Carolina, and both were referred to a committee of 
the whole. The committee reported in favor of 
Randolph's, or the " Virginia " system.* After the 
report had been made, a new plan was offered by 
William Patterson, of New Jersey, as a substitute for 
that of Randolph, providing for a government of more 
limited powers, or, as its first article stated, revising, 
correcting and enlarging all the articles of confedera- 
tion ; and General Alexander Hamilton presented 
still another as the conclusion of a speech on the sub- 
ject, in which it was arranged that the members of 
the executive, legislative and judiciary departments 
were to be chosen by the people to serve for life, or 
during good behavior, with the exception of the 
members of an assembly who were to serve three 

* In N. C. Towne's " History and Analysis of the Constitution of the 
United States" (Boston, i860) pp. 252-295, sundry documents con- 
nected with the proceedings of the Convention are given, including the 
views of Tames Madison, the plans of Randolph, Patterson, Pinckney, 
and Hamilton, and the resolutions agreed to by the Convention, July 26. 
William Hickey's " Constitution of the United States " (Baltimore) is a 
valuable treasury of information on these subjects. 



FEDERALISTS A. XI) NATIONAL MEN. 343 

years. This was not seriously considered, and the 
choice lay between the Virginia and the New Jersey 
plans, called respectively the "National" and the 
" Federal " plan. 

A difference of opinion was soon made evident 
between the delegates, some considering that the 
powers of the Convention were limited to the revision 
of the old articles of confederation, and were not 
sufficient to construct a new form of government.* 
The supporters of the former view called themselves 
Federalists, and in general they approved the New 
Jersey plan. Those who considered the Convention 
authorized to frame a new government, called them- 
selves " National " men. The debate on these points 
shows the earnestness of the men, and must be 
studied by those who would know the fundamental 
principles of our government. 

Mr. Hamilton said that he did not approve either 
plan, but was especially opposed to that of New 
Jersey, being "fully convinced that no amendment of 
the confederation, leaving the States in possession of 
their sovereignty, could possibly answer the purpose." 
Mr. Randolph said that the salvation of the Republic 
was at stake, and that it would be treason not to pro- 
pose what was found necessary ; and Hamilton added 
that he agreed in the feeling, that the States had 
sent the delegates " to provide for the exigencies of 

* The Convention met under authority of an act of the Congress of the 
Confederation, of February 21, 1787, calling it for " the sole and express 
purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to 
Congress and the several Legislatures, such alterations and provisions 
therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the 
States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of 
Government, and the preservation of the Union.". 



344 FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

the Union," and the question for them to answer was, 
not what their constituents had expressed in their 
deliberations on the subject, but rather "what pro- 
vision shall we make for the happiness of our 
country ? " 

Mr. Randolph said that a national government 
alone would prove capable of " crushing rebellion 
whenever it may rear its crest," of providing for 
harmony among the States, regulating trade, natural- 
ization, etc., and Mr. Madison said that there was less 
danger of encroachment from the general government 
than from the State governments, and that the mis- 
chiefs arising from encroachments by the general 
government would be less fatal than those by the 
State governments. He argued that the danger of a 
strong central government was not that it might 
abuse its power, but that it might imperfectly perform 
its duties " throughout so great an extent of country 
and over so great a variety of objects." 

Other views were presented and urged, but after 
discussion a report was made by the committee of the 
whole in favor of the Virginia plan, on the ninth of 
June, and the national system was finally adopted. 
A comparison of the Constitution with the Articles of 
Confederation impresses the candid student with the 
belief that the patriots who framed it, bearing in mind 
the difficulties of carrying on the government under 
the weaker scheme, felt that they were now to lay the 
foundations of a great nation, though a monarchy of 
any kind was far from their thoughts. The larger 
States were on the national side ; the smaller took the 
federal view, and the altercations became so great at 
times as to threaten the usefulness of the Convention. 



ON THE VERGE OF DISSOLUTION. 345 

It was in consequence of this condition of affairs that 
Franklin moved, on the twenty-eighth of June, that 
prayers be offered at the opening of each morning 
session.* 

In the midst of the agitation, when the smaller 
States were crying that they would suffer dominion of 
a foreign power rather than give up the right to 
an equal vote in one of the branches of the Legisla- 
ture, Franklin offered in committee, the motion that 
the votes of the States should be equal in the Senate,! 
and the tumult was assuaged in part, though so deep 
was the feeling that one of the members said that 
they were on the verge of dissolution, " scarce held 
together by the strength of a hair," and threats of 
secession were made on the part of the Federalists, 
while the national party spoke of dismemberment and 
absorption of the smaller States by the larger by the 
power of the sword. Better counsels prevailed, and 
the States were given the equal votes in the Senate, 
and the unequal votes in the House, that they have at 
the present time. 

The question of how this unequal representation 
should be arranged, caused a new division, this time 
between the North and the South, for the South 
demanded that the slaves should be included with the 
freemen in any count upon which representation 
should be based, while the North, which had largely 
given up the system of negro slavery, held that free- 

*In making this motion, Franklin said, "If a sparrow cannot fall 
without God's knowledge, how can an empire rise without his aid ? " 

t On this point Roger Sherman, of Connecticut, said that if the dif- 
ficulty on the subject of representation could not otherwise be got 
over, he would agree to have two branches, and a proportional repre- 
sentation in one, provided each State had an equal voice in the other. 



346 FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

men only should be counted as the basis of represen- 
tation. Again the spirit of compromise brought 
peace, and it was settled that three fifths of the slaves 
should be included with the freemen, in the count on 
which the ratio of representation should be settled 
between the States. 

The status of the slave trade gave ground for another 
debate, which ended in a further compromise, the 
representatives of Virginia and the central States, who 
constituted the main opponents to the continuance of 
the trade, agreeing that the traffic should continue no 
longer than twenty years, or until 1808. This was 
not inserted in the Constitution, nor was the word 
slave mentioned in that document, though a clause 
respecting the return of fugitive slaves was inserted 
in article four, similar to that in the articles of Confed- 
eration of the New England Colonies ( 1643 ). 

This brief review is sufficient to show that the Con- 
stitution was "adopted by bargain and compromise," 
as one of the members of the convention * ( Nicholas 

*The following is the text of the letter here referred to . — 
" The important business of the Convention being closed, the Secre- 
tary set off this morning to present Congress with a report of their 
proceedings, which I hope will come before the States in the manner 
directed; but as some time must necessarily elapse before that can 
take place, I do myself the pleasure to transmit the enclosed papers 
for your private satisfaction, forbearing all comments on the plan, but 
that it is the best that could meet the unanimous consent of the States 
in Convention. It was done by bargain and compromise, yet, notwith 
standing its imperfections, on the adoption of it depends ( in my feeble 
judgment ) whether we shall become a respectable nation, or a people 
torn to pieces by intestine commotions, and rendered contemptible for 
ages." The letter was addressed to Joseph Oilman, who had been 
chairman of the New Hampshire Committee of Safety during the war, 
and who was at a later date appointed by Washington one of the judges 
of the Northwestern Territory. 



BARGAIN AND COMPROMISE. 347 

■ 

Gilman of New Hampshire) wrote to a relative at 
home, the day after the conclusion had been reached ; 
but it shows also that a wise spirit pervaded the body, 
and that they acted well on the whole, for the future 
good of the great nation that was to grow up, their 
differences of opinion modifying their mutual action 
in such a manner that the true mean was attained. 
The government was not so much centralized as to 
deprive the States of their proper rights, nor was the 
amount of authority committed to it so small as to 
make it present a weak front to the world that was 
anxiously watching its beginnings. Lord Brougham 
in his " Political Philosophy," said that the wonderful 
machinery of the United States government " is the 
very greatest refinement in social policy to which any 
state of circumstances has ever given rise, or to 
which any age has ever given birth." 

As the close of the war did not bring peace, so the 
presentation of a constitution to the nation did not 
result in concord, for the parties that had been 
developed in the Convention were but indications of 
the differences of opinion that were now expressed 
upon the grand document itself. The country was 
immediately divided into two parties, the Federalists, 
who counted among them Washington, Hamilton, 
Madison, Jay, and the anti-Federalists, called also 
Democrats and Republicans, among whom were men 
like Luther Martin, of Maryland, who declared that 
he was willing to reduce himself to indigence if he 
could prevail upon the country to " reject those 
chains which are forged for it," and Elbridge Gerry, 
of Massachusetts, who hinted at civil war, besides 
Jefferson, Randolph, Henry and Mason, of Virginia. 



348 FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

Mr. Martin objected that a Republican form of govern- 
ment was suited to small countries ; that delegates 
could not be induced to travel hundreds of miles to 
attend Congress, and that a central government 
would not be able to perform its functions properly in 
distant portions of a country so extensive as America. 
He said too, that under the form proposed, if one of 
the States were to take the sword against the 
national government, the State and every citizen 
acting under its authority, would be " guilty of an act 
of treason," while the same difficulty would arise if 
the citizens were to obey the general government in 
opposition to a State law. It was the fifteenth of 
September when the agreement was reached, and 
two days later, the Constitution, having been in the 
meantime properly engrossed, received the signatures 
of the President, George Washington, and the Secre- 
tary, William Jackson, the members signing as soon 
as convenient. 

With as great promptness as was possible in the 
days when there were no telegraphs nor railways, 
and few post roads,* the Constitution was communi- 
cated to the people, and discussion of its terms began 
with much earnestness. Among the most powerful 

*As late as 1790 there were but seventy-five post-offices in the 
United States. In 1710a line of posts was established from Piscat- 
aqua to Philadelphia, letters being conveyed (a portion of the way at 
least) " as often as there were enough lodged to pay the expense." 
Franklin was Postmaster-general from 1753 to 1774, and he boasted that 
he made the office pay a revenue to the Crown. In 1775 the Provincial 
Congress established a line of posts from Falmouth (Portland) to 
Savannah, but the delivery of letters was mainly along the seaboard. 
In 1790 mails were carried but three times a week between New York 
and Boston in summer, and twice in winter. Five mails a week were 
carried each way between New York and Philadelphia. 



DISCUSSING THE CONSTITUTION. 349 

influences brought to bear upon the question was a 
series of papers published by Hamilton, Madison and 
Jay, addressed at first to the citizens of New York 
(and at first signed by " A Citizen,'' of that State), 
and then to the citizens of the whole United States. 
At the same time John Dickinson, a native of Mary- 
land, and representative of Pennsylvania, who had 
written his Farmer's Letters a score of years before, 
now took up the pen again, and under the signature 
" Fabius," called upon the people to rally for a con- 
stitutional government. 

Wise sentiments prevailed, and early in December 
the State of Delaware by its Convention, unanimously 
recorded its voice in favor of the Constitution, and in 
a little more than half a year the requisite number of 
nine States had ratified the agreement, and the Con- 
stitution became the fundamental law of the land. 
Virginia and New York followed in June and July, 
1788, and North Carolina and Rhode Island, in 1789, 
and 1790. When two States remained to give con- 
sent to the Constitution, Congress appointed the first 
Wednesday in January, 1789, for the first general 
election, and a month later the electors met and 
chose George Washington President, and John 
Adams Vice-President. The fourth of March was 
the day for the final organization of the Government 
by the assembling of Congress and the inauguration 
of the President, but there was so little interest in 
the matter that it was the last day of April before 
that ceremony could be proceeded with, the Repre- 
sentatives not coming together with promptness in 
sufficient numbers to constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business until April sixth, though 



350 FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT. 

there was a quorum of the House on the thirtieth 
of March. 

Mr. Gladstone has given expression to the opinion 
of thinking men in saying of the Constitution that it 




PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. 



appears to him to be " the most wonderful work ever 
struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of 
man," and Washington, speaking when he had in 
immediate view the difficulties that surrounded the 



LITTLE SHORT OF A MIRACLE. 351 

Convention, and the variety of interests that had 
to be accommodated, said that it appeared to him 
" little short of a miracle that the delegates from 
so many States, different from each other in man- 
ners, circumstances and prejudices," should have 
united in forming a system of government so little 
liable to objection, and providing so many checks and 
barriers to the introduction of tyranny. 

When we consider the history of the nation since 
the days of Washington, we are filled with admiration 
of the wisdom and forethought exhibited by the 
fathers of the Republic, especially as we bring back 
to memory the story of privation and suffering of the 
years just before the transaction, and remember that 
it was not the work of a nation in its strength, but of 
a people worn out by a prolonged struggle with a 
power vastly its superior, suffering under a disorgan- 
ized currency, groaning beneath a load of public and 
private debts,* and united on scarcely any one of the 
many topics that it was obliged to discuss throughout 
the transaction. United when threatened by danger, 
the people were rent by sectional jealousies when no 
longer obliged to support each other against a com- 
mon foe, they still had sufficient self-control to per- 
form this great transaction in a manner that has held 
the admiration of the nations ever since. 

*" Things in 1787," says Mr. Breck in his " Recollections," "were in a 
declining condition in every part of the United States, and poor Bos- 
ton, the population of which was reduced to eighteen thousand, lost 
this year by fire several hundred houses in the south part of the 
town. Lafayette, accidently hearing of this calamity in Paris, wrote 
to my father to draw on him for three hundred pounds sterling, and 
distribute the amount among those who stood in need of aid." 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 



IT was the middle of April when the intelligence of 
his election was communicated to Washington at 
Mount Vernon, where he was enjoying the retirement 
that was so congenial to him, which he fondly hoped 
was to continue. He accepted the honor with grati- 
tude, but with reluctance looked at the fields of his 
estate that he must leave, and with the promptness 
that always characterized him, started from home for 
the scene of his new labors, the second day after he 
had been notified of his new election. (April 16.) 

His journey to New York was like a triumphal 
march. The authorities of the various towns through 
which he passed honored him with escorts and 
addresses, women strewed flowers in his path,* and he 
passed under arches crowned with laurels, but all this 
did not elate him. He knew too well the nature of 
the arduous work he had undertaken. It was com- 
paratively easy to frame the Consitution, but it was a 
labor of no small gravity to put the machinery of 

* Welcome, mighty chief, once more, 
Welcome to this grateful shore ; 
Now no mercenary foe 
Aims again the fatal blow, 
Aims at thee the fatal blow. 

Address of the maidens at Trenton. 
352 



CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 353 

government into motion. This was the task before 
the first President. 

Washington was inaugurated in the Federal Hall, 
on the site now occupied by the United States Sub- 
Treasury on Wall street, at the head of Broad. He 
took the oath of office on the balcony of that building, 
in the presence of both houses of Congress and of a 
great body of citizens who crowded the streets below, 
and afterwards walked to St. Paul's Church, where he 
attended prayers. (April 30.) 

His spirit may be judged by the following extract 
from his inaugural address. " It would be particularly 
improper," he said, "to omit in this first official act, 
my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who 
rules over the universe, who presides at the councils 
of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every 
human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to 
the liberties and happiness of the people of the United 
States a government instituted by themselves for 
these essential purposes, and may enable every instru- 
ment employed in its administration to execute with 
success the functions alloted to his charge." 

The new government was to be directed in its 
beginning by the houses of Congress, and these were 
at first occupied by discussions of the Constitution, 
many amendments having been offered by the differ- 
ent States. * It is often the case that after a body has 
adopted a constitution, its first step is not to begin to 
work under it, but to try to make it more perfect, or more 
in accordance with the views of the entire body to be 

*It may be said in a general way that the first amendments were in 
the direction of increasing the power of the States, while those offered 
in later times have tended to strengthen the general government. 



354 THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 

governed by it, for such a document is almost of neces- 
sity the product of a few minds, and the entire body 
does not come to consider it in detail until after it has 
been adopted. 

Most of the amendments now offered came from 
the party opposed to a strong central government. 
They did not contemplate any radical change, but 
simply a definition of the power of the central govern- 
ment and its relation to the States. Congress 
adopted ten of the nearly threescore amendments 
proposed. They emphasized the freedom of speech, 
religion and the press, the right to bear arms, the 
security of the people from unreasonable searches 
and seizures, and stated that powers not delegated 
to the United States, nor prohibited to the States by 
the -Constitution are reserved to the States or to the 
people, and that the fact that certain specific rights 
are by the Constitution, enumerated as belonging to 
the people, does not deny or disparage other rights 
still retained by them. These amendments were 
adopted by the States. 

The influence of the establishment of the new gov- 
ernment was immediately felt by trade, which was 
more secure, and commerce revived throughout the 
country, but this did not make unnecessary long dis- 
cussions of the tariff and finance. Alexander Hamil- 
ton advocated a plan by which the United States 
should assume the debts of the States of the late 
Confederacy, as well as those of the general govern- 
ment, and this honest course gave satisfaction to the.., 
creditors of the public and strengthened the feeling 
of stability. 

Congress organized three executive departments, 



THE FIRST CABINET. 355 

each under a secretary, and Washington appointed 
Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State, Alexander 
Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury, and General 
Henry Knox* Secretary of War. The department 
of the navy was not set up until 1798, when war 
seemed imminent with France, and Benjamin Stod- 
dard was made secretary. The attorney-general was 
made a member of the President's Cabinet, and 
Edmund Randolph was selected to fill the office. 
In 1789 Samuel Osgood was appointed Postmaster- 
general, but without a seat in the Cabinet. John 
Jay, one of the most exemplary characters in Amer- 
ican history, and the person who seems to have been 
most like the first President, was appointed Chief 
Justice. 

The establishment of a National Bank, which was 
violently opposed, in the early part of 1791, by the 
anti-Federal party led by Jefferson, f was due to Ham- 
ilton, and the avidity with which its shares were 
subscribed for proved the confidence of the public in 
the stability of the new government. There had 
been antagonism between the Secretary of State and 
the Secretary of the Treasury from the beginning, and 
the breach gradually widened, until, in January, 1794, 

*One of the brightest ornaments of society in Philadelphia was 
"General Henry Knox, who was Washington's intimate friend, and 
was at the head of the War Department. To a fine, lofty and well- 
proportioned figure, the Secretary of War added bland and dignified 
manners — sprightly, very playful, yet of sensible conversation. lie 
was indeed a very distinguished as well as a very amiable man." — 
Breck's Recollections. 

t Referring to the antagonism between himself and Hamilton, 
Jefferson once wrote : " We are pitted against each other every day 
in the Cabinet like two fighting cocks." 



35fi 



THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 



after the second election of Washington, Jefferson 
retired from the Cabinet. Hamilton followed his 
example in 1795. The second Presidential election 
occurred in 1792, and Washington received all the 
votes of the electors. Jefferson, just ready to leave 
the Cabinet and politically opposed to him, urged his 
election, saying, " North and South will hang together 




MOHTICELLO, THE HOME OF JEFFERSOK. 

if they have him to hang on," and Hamilton, of the 
opposite party, could use no stronger language, while 
all patriots shrank from the consequences that they 
foresaw would ensue if he declined to accept the 
leadership again. The situation of affairs demanded 
the exercise of all his wisdom. 

At home, party spirit, which in the succeeding 



THE TARIFF AND SLAVERY. 357 

Presidential campaigns was to break out in its fiercest 
form, was daily increasing in intensity. The tariff 
divided the North and the South, for the one, relying 
on its manufactures, shipping and commerce, wished 
an amount of protection that the other, largely 
dependent upon agriculture, did not demand. The 
North also favored the abolition of the slave trade by 
act of Congress, and the South, though in its State 
Legislatures moving toward this end, did not approve 
federal interference with the institution. The subject 
of the action of Congress regarding slavery in the 
Territories began to constitute a bone of contention.* 
Jefferson had proposed the exclusion of slavery from 
the Northwestern Territory,! and that point had been 
settled, but while the North claimed that this action 
formed a precedent to be followed, the South thought 
otherwise, and when "the Territory south of the 
Ohio " was organized, in 1790, it was with the agree- 

*On the twelfth of February, 1793, m order to carry into effect 
the clauses in Article IV. of the Constitution, Congress passed a law 
entitled " an act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping 
from the service of their masters." This was not the first fugitive 
slave law of the country, though from the fact that the records of the 
New England Confederacy lay in manuscript until 1794, when portions 
were printed by Ebenezer Hazard, it seems not to have been remem- 
bered that a similar provision was made in the Articles of Confedera- 
tion of 1643. Tllis applied, of course, to the New England Colonies 
only, but by a treaty made by them with Peter Stuyvesant, Governor 
of the New Netherlands, in 1650, it was extended to that Colony, and 
it is said that, on application, a slave who had escaped to New Eng- 
land was returned to a master living still further southward. See Mr. 
Webster's letter of May 15th, 1850, to Edward S. Rand, and other citi- 
zens of Newburyport, Mass. 

t Jefferson claimed that "the prohibition of the further importation 
of slaves " was one of the important measures for which his influence 
was responsible. 



358 THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 

ment that Congress should not make any regulations 
tending to the emancipation of slaves. 

An Indian war of great violence broke out in 1790, 
and was not quelled until five yean )f bloodshed had 
wasted the region west of the Oiiio. The Indians 
fought to regain territory which had been ceded to 
the United States, and at the close of the war Con- 
gress seemed to acknowledge that the whites had 
been the aggressors, for it gave the tribes that were 
conquered indemnities on their retiring further west, 
and for the first time, it took steps for the improve- 
ment of the Indians, and their protection from 
unscrupulous traders. Washington said that experi- 
ment had not diminished hopes for their elevation, 
and that the accomplishment of their civilization 
would " reflect undecaying lustre on our national 
character, and administer the most gratefu consola- 
tion that virtuous minds can know." In this war 
Colonel Hardin had circumvented the savages, Gen- 
eral Harmer had been foiled, and General Saint Clair 
had been surprised, and his forces utterly routed, 
before the whites under "mad Anthony" Wayne, 
had been able to bring the Indians to terms. 

If Washington was embarrassed by the state of 
affairs at home, much more was his task difficult when 
he came to contemplate the foreign relations of the 
government. The French revolution broke out at 
the opening of his administration, and it was natural 
that the sympathies of the nation should be enlisted 
by the exciting scenes among a people which had so 
warmly seconded the efforts against Great Britain, 
especially when they saw among the leaders of the 
movement the man who had stood at the side of 




NORTHERN SCENERY. THE CONWAY MEADOWS, N. H. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 361 

Washington in the darkest moments of the Revolution. 

France did not have the sympathies of all, however, 
for the wiser and more calm were startled at the 
scenes of blood that marked the wild orgies in that 
fair land, and when, in 1793, Washington issued nis 
memorable proclamation of neutrality, he found him- 
self supported by the Federalists, and by those who 
saw the dangers of anarchy resulting from unrestrained 
license. The feeling for France was, on the other 
hand, deepened by the antipathy to England, which it 
was to take many years to dissipate. 

The month that Washington issued his proclama- 
tion saw an ignorant and arrogant representative of 
the French Republic land, not at Philadelphia, the 
Federal capital, but at Charleston, S. C. demand 
an active support from the government, and upon 
its refusal, fi' out privateers to pre)' upon English 
commerce. He even ventured, with the support of 
the Republican party, to threaten to appeal from the 
government to the people, and thus to inaugurate on 
American soil, the bloody drama that he had been 
playing a part in at home ; but Washington demanded 
his recall, and the demand was heard. A new 
ambassador took the place of " Citizen Genet." So 
great was the excitement at this juncture that war 
with England was demanded by the Republican 
party ; Marat, Robespierre, and the other actors in 
the French Revolution, were daily toasts at table, and 
the cries of ^he multitude about his house were so 
riotous that Washington exclaimed : " I had rather be 
in my grave than in this excitement ! " 

War with Great Britain was not only demanded by 
the Republicans, but the action of that country made 



3t)2 THE FIRST P RESIDE NT. 

it imminent. Not only did it claim the right to stop 
and search American vessels on the high seas, and 
impress every seaman that its commanders might 
assume to be o. .British birth, but it issued arbitrary 
orders interfering with American commerce, and the 
greatest skill and wisdom were required to preserve 
the peace. Washington chose a good man to demand 
redress from England, when he sent John Jay on that 
mission. A treaty was obtained in November, 1794, 
though it had hardly been expected, by which Great 
Britain surrendered the forts in the West * that it 
had held contrary to the terms of the treaty of 1783, 
and offered to make indemnity for the suffering 
caused by its search and impressment of seamen. 

This treaty was opposed by the " French " party 
with almost frenzied oratory, and meetings were 
everywhere held to stir the opposition to the utmost. 
Violent addresses were presented to Washington, but 
he rebuked those who offered them. Hamilton took 
up his pen, and argued with all his close logic in favor 
of the treaty, and finally Fisher Ames made in Con- 
gress an eloquent speech that has become historic. 
These influences combined with the firmness of the 
President, moved Congress. The treaty was ratified 
by a vote of fifty-one to forty-eight, and war was 
averted. This action gave deep offence to France 
and the French party in the United States, and Mr. 
Monroe, the minister at Paris, was notified that the 
alliance with his country was at an end. 

While these disturbing influences were doing their 
worst at home and abroad, when the press published 

* Among these forts were those at Detroit. Niagara, Mackinaw, 
Oswego and other places. 



INSULTS TO WASHINGTON. 365 

the most virulent attacks upon the President, and 
epithets exaggerated and indecent were applied to 
him, Washington, on the seventeenth of September, 
1796, issued to the people his "Farewell Address," in 
which he gave them many wise counsels, urged them 
to support the Union, to avoid all entanglements in 
European politics, to beware of " geographical dis- 
criminations," which might raise a belief that there 
is a "real difference of local interests and views," 
and prayed for the blessing of God on the people, 
with whom he promised himself the sweet enjoyment 
of partaking " the benign influence of good laws 
under a free government." 

Though urgently solicited to be a candidate for 
the Presidency for the third time, Washington firmly 
declined, and the strife of party no longer waged 
around him. The candidates for the chief office were 
John Adams of Massachusetts, representing the Fed- 
eral party, opposed to war with England, and Thomas 
Jefferson of Virginia, the partisan of France, repre- 
senting those whose sympathies had carried them to 
the extent of being willing, if not desirous, to plunge 
the young country into a new strife. Party spirit 
rose to a height never before realized, and in the midst 
of it Washington declared with the calm faith which 
had seldom left him, that he could not believe that 
Providence which had so long guided the country 
would withdraw its protection at the crisis. He was 
permitted to see his faith vindicated, for John Adams 
was peacefully chosen, and entered upon the duties 
of his office March 4th, 1797. The provisions of the 
Constitution were such at the time that the person 
standing second on the list of votes in the electoral 



,366 THE FIB ST PRESIDENT. 

college became Vice-President, and accordingly Jef- 
ferson the Republican, was second in rank to Adams 
the Federalist. 

"Republican simplicity" was not known during the 
reign of Washington. He was himself a person of 
formality, and adhered with minuteness to the rules of 
etiquette in his associations with others. His 
"levees" were ceremonious and solemn. His coach 
in which he appeared in the streets of New York, was 
light yellow, built in the shape of a hemisphere, 
adorned with cupids, festoons, flowers, and fruits, and 
was drawn by six cream-colored horses. Coachmen 
and postillions in livery of scarlet and white, added to 
the ostentation of the establishment.* 

During his administration Washington made several 
tours to different sections of the country, with a view 
of knitting the parts of the Union more closely 
together. Thus, in 1789, he visited New England,! 
(excepting Rhode Island) travelling as far as 
Portsmouth, and meeting spontaneous and hearty 
enthusiasm everywhere. Processions, banners, arches, 
feasts, were encountered on every hand. The next 

*This style of equipage was not unusual in different portions of the 
United States. Even private citizens of wealth often sported their 
coaches with four horses, and used liveries, and it was usual for public 
persons to assume much elaborate pomposity. 

t The feeling that the State was superior to the Federal Union, inter- 
rupted the cordial relations between Washington and Governor Han- 
cock. The Governor refused to meet the President on his entrance to 
Boston, expecting him to pay his respects to the chief magistrate at 
the official residence, anrl to dine with him. This Washington refused 
to do, and the Governor succumbed, offering a lame apology. Gov- 
ernor Langdon of New Hampshire acted in a different manner, meeting 
the President at the State line, and escorting him to the Capitol, then 
Portsmouth. 



WASHINGTON'S PROGRESSES. 367 

year Rhode Island had entered the Union, and the 
President made a visit to the State. In 1791, he 
went through the Southern States, going as far as 
Savannah, and returning by way of Augusta, Columbia, 
and towns in North Carolina and Virginia. 

It has been said that Washington desired to have 




the house of john hancock, beacon street, boston, 
(bemoved in 1863.) 

the President bear the title "high mightiness," which 
was used in the United Netherlands ; but be that as 
it may, it is certain that the etiquette of his life gave 
him much trouble, which was settled by his commit- 



368 THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 

ting such matters to Colonel Humphreys, formerly 
one of his aids, and General Knox, who was much 
at the Presidential mansion. Jefferson, who was not 
an impartial observer, thought the former was cap- 
tivated by the ceremonials of European courts, and 
the latter "a man of parade." In addition, Wash- 
ington propounded a series of questions to the able 
men about him, such as Adams, Hamilton, Jay and 
Madison. The influence of the advice of Adams 
may be seen in the stateliness adopted, for he con- 
sidered that "the office by its legal authority defined 
in the Constitution, hath no equal in the world 
excepting those only which are held by crowned 
heads ; nor is the royal authority in all cases to be 
compared with it." He adds, " If the state and 
pomp essential to this great department are not in 
a good degree preserved, it will be in vain for America 
to hope for consideration with foreign powers." Ham- 
ilton was careful to say that though the Presidential 
dignity should be insured, he believed it would be 
satisfactory to the people to know that there " is 
some body of men in the State who have a right 
of continual communication with the President." He 
would have confined this right to the. heads of depart- 
ments and members of the Senate. 

Mr. Samuel Breck in his Recollections gives a 
glimpse into the state of social affairs in Phila- 
delphia at this time. He began to live there in 
the autumn of 1792, and says, "The city was all 
alive, and a round of entertainment was kept up by 
the following families : Robert Morris, William Bing- 
ham, John Ross, Henry Hill, Thomas Moore, Walter 
Stewart, Governor Thomas Mifflin, ex-Governor John 



SOCIAL LIFE. 369 

Perm, Samuel Powel, Benjamin Chew, Phineas Bond, 
Thomas Ketland, Pierce Butler, Langton Smith, Gen- 
eral Knox, Samuel Breck, Alexander Hamilton, etc. 
Besides these, General Washington, who was Presi- 
dent of the United States, and John Adams, who 
was Vice-President, saw a great deal of company. 
Philadelphia contained then about fifty thousand 
inhabitants, and a much larger society of elegant and 
fashionable and stylish people than at the present 
day (January, 1842), with its two hundred and seventy 
thousand souls in city and country. There was more 
attention paid then to the dress of servants and 
general appearance of equipages. Dinners were got 
up in elegance and good taste. Besides Bingham,* 
and Morris, and the President, who had French cooks, 
as well as most of the foreign ministers, there was 
a most admirable artist by the name of Marinot, 
who supplied the tables of private gentlemen when 
they entertained, with all that the most refined gour- 
mands could desire. 

General Washington had a stud of twelve or 
fourteen horses-, and occasionally rode out with six 
horses to his coach, and always two footmen behind 
his carriage. He knew how to maintain the dignity 
of his station. None of his successors, except the 
elder Adams, has set a proper value on a certain 
degree of display that seems suitable for the chief 
magistrate of a great nation. I do not mean 
pageantry, but the decent exterior of a well-bred 
gentleman." 

* Breck, whose foreign education and personal tastes caused him 
to lay much stress upon " style," and the ability of one's cook, states 
that Mr. Bingham "lived in the most showy style of any American." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 

THE twelve years that followed the administration 
of the first President were years of bitter party 
strife. The ehief magistrate at first was John Adams, 
the Federalist, and then for two terms, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, the anti-Federalist, or Republican. During this 
period, the states of Europe were in a condition of 
ferment, and it seemed as if the people of the United 
States were more interested in foreign affairs than in 
those matters which belonged to the growth and prog- 
ress of their own Commonwealth, and the status of 
our statesmen, or perhaps, more properly, politicians, 
was determined more by their stand in regard to Euro- 
pean affairs than by their views of home matters. 

The first foreign embarrassment came from France, 
where the Directory, (no less than the members of the 
"French party" at home,) were complaining of the 
moderate treaty effected by Jay with England, as 
though it were an evidence of too great sympathy 
with that country. A minister sent out by Washing- 
ton, Charles C. Pinckney, had been refused an audi- 
ence at Paris, and ordered to leave French territory, 
in February, 1797, and when Congress, convened in 
extra session by President Adams in May of the same 
year, sent out Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry, with 

370 



THE ALIEX AND SEDITION ACTS. 371 

power to adjust all questions between the countries, 
they were not received, though an intimation was 
made that for a pecuniary consideration Talleyrand 
would consent to enter into relations with them. It 
was on this occasion that Pinckney gave utterance to 
the words that afterwards became proverbial : " Mil- 
lions for defence, but not one cent for tribute." 

Almost immediately after the accession of Adams, 
the Directory had issued orders to French war-ships 
to molest American commerce, though there was no 
actual declaration of war on either side. Congress 
made preparations for war, however, by enlarging the 
army and navy, and by placing Washington at the head 
of the forces. There were, of course, no collisions on 
land, but at sea American privateers drove French 
privateers from our coast, and took many prizes that 
enriched private owners, and the United States frigate 
Constellation captured IJ I us urgent e, a French war 
frigate, in the West Indies. 

Congress passed two acts, called the Alien and 
Sedition laws, under which the President was empow- 
ered to send from the country such foreigners as he 
should think dangerous to the United States, and 
fines and imprisonment were threatened against all 
conspirators and all publications tendingto defame Con- 
gress or the President, and all efforts to stir up sedi- 
tion, or to aid foreign nations against the United 
States. These acts were but temporary, the first to 
expire in 1800, and the second in March, 1801, on the 
close of the administration of Adams. The Sedition 
act was enforced from time to time, but the Alien act 
did not lead to the sending of any dangerous foreigners 
from the country ; it was, in fact, deemed unconstitu- 



372 FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 

tional by some, and the question has not even yet 
been definitely settled. 

Resolutions drawn up by Jefferson, but modified by 
the mover, George Nicholas, were passed by the Leg- 
islature of Kentucky, November 10, 1798, asserting 
that the Alien and Sedition Laws were "altogether 
void and of no force;" and the Legislature of Vir- 
ginia voted, December 21, in words dictated by 
Madison, that they were " palpable and alarming 
infractions of the Constitution." Jefferson would 
have made these utterances stronger, and said that 
the laws were an experiment to ascertain whether the 
people would submit to measures positively contrary 
to the Constitution, and, if successful, would lead 
directly to a life Presidency, a hereditary Presidency, 
and a Senate chosen for life. 

The Legislatures of Delaware, Rhode Island, Massa- 
chusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire 
and Vermont, promptly expressed their disapproval of 
the doctrine that a State retained the power to nullify 
an act of Congress. The action of Vermont was taken 
on the thirtieth of October, 1799, and on the four- 
teenth of the following month, the Legislature of 
Virginia passed another resolution on the subject, s.till 
further expressing its views, in reply to these States. 

Madison said that while he considered that a State 
might judge of the constitutionality of an act of 
Congress, it could not nullify one, nor, in any event, 
was it by the Legislature, but by a convention that it 
should take action. The Legislature of Virginia 
declared, years afterwards, that South Carolina was 
not supported by the resolutions of 1798 in her doc- 
trine of nullification, and as early as 1830, when the 




3 



: 



THE KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS. 375 

nullification doctrines first assumed a name and an 
importance, Madison declared that the resolutions 
were declaratory only ; simply expressions of sentiment; 
did not support nullification, and did not look to means 
of maintaining the rights of the State beyond the 
regular ones within the forms of the Constitution. 
He said that Jefferson would not have sustained South 
Carolina, and drew graphic pictures of the disorders 
that would have followed successful nullification.* 
The avowedly temporary nature of the acts com- 
plained of by Kentucky and Virginia, strongly suggests 
that they had none of the sinister intents mentioned 
by Jefferson, and certainly there was no effort made 
of the character that his vivid imagination represented 
as possible, if not probable. 

When Talleyrand learned the feeling that had been 
roused by his acts, he hastened to counteract the 
result of his rashness. He sent assurances through 
the American minister at the Hague, that a new mis- 
sion would be received, and one was sent with more 
decided instructions. The new ambassadors found 
Bonaparte at the head of French affairs as first consul. 
He was acute enough to wish to have America an ally, 
rather than to see her ranged against him on the side 
of England; and in October, 1800, a treaty of peace 

* In August, 1830, Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, asked Mr. 
Madison to express his opinions on these subjects, and the result was 
an elaborate letter from the aged Virginian, which Mr. Everett pub- 
lished in the North American Review. Tt is found also in " Madison's 
Writings," iv, 95. These statements were consistent with the expressions 
of Mr. Madison made in the convention of 1787, when he supported the 
"National" plan and said that "guards were more necessary against 
encroachments of the State governments on the general government 
than of the latter on the former. 



876 FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 

was concluded which, however, did not decide all ques- 
tions in dispute. It left open the settlement of claims 
for French spoliation. 

Before this treaty had been effected, the country 
lost the guiding hand that had led it through the Rev- 
olution, and the mind that had given it counsels from 
time to time since. Washington died at Mount Ver- 
non, December 14, 1799, and the whole land united in 
heartfelt mourning. Richard Henry Lee, in his ad- 
dress before Congress, delivered in his honor, declared* 
Washington " First in war, first in peace, and first in 
the hearts of his countrymen," * distinctly setting him 
upon the high pinnacle from which no one of his 
countrymen has since tried or wished to move him. 
Washington's sympathies with the Federalists had 
made him during his later years the object of most 
vituperative abuse from the opposite party, but since 
the temporary clamor of the time has passed away, the 
hero's character has shone only more bright, and the 
affections of his countrymen have grown warmer and 
deeper. 

The feeling of opposition to the Alien and Sedition 
acts, especially in the interior, was powerful in leading 
to the election of an anti-Federalist or Democrat 
instead of Adams, and the power of the Federal party 
passed away when Thomas Jefferson was chosen Pres- 
ident, at the fourth election. Jefferson entered upon 
his career as President March 4, 1801, the seat of gov- 
ernment having been transferred to Washington 

* These oft-quoted words were first used in connection with the 
name of Washington, bv Colonel Lee, in resolutions introduced in the 
House of Representatives the day after the great chief's death, and 
prefaced with appropriate remarks by John Marshall, afterwards Chief 
Tustice. 



A CAPITAL IN THE WILDERNESS. 377 

from Philadelphia in the previous year. Opposed to 
what he considered the aristocratic notions of the 
Federalists, he affected the utmost simplicity, setting 
aside the rules of precedence of the former administra- 
tions, and risking misunderstanding by the informality 
with which he received titled foreigners. His inau- 




WASHISTGTON S TOMB. 



guration, however, was conducted with all the pomp 
possible in a town of five hundred inhabitants living in 
"the scattered buildings of the desert," as a contem- 
porary states, the streets of which were little bet- 
ter than paths cut among the trees and shrubs with 
which the site was covered. The President's " pal- 



378 FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 

ace," as the White House was then called, was a mile 
or more from the then unfinished Capitol, and the 
Alexandria Riflemen paraded before it, with the com- 
pany of artillery which had ushered in the day by the 
discharge of cannon. The city * was thronged by 
a large body of citizens from the surrounding region, 
though the day was celebrated in the Virginia towns 
as well as at Philadelphia, by ringing bells, proces- 
sions, salutes and addresses. A procession in Wash- 
ington was impracticable, for the Tiber Creek was not 
bridged, pedestrians crossing it on a log, and vehicles 
being driven through it. The President-elect was, how- 
ever, accompanied by many members of Congress, and 
other citizens on foot and on horseback, and he rode on 
horseback himself. After the delivery of the address, 
the Chief Justice administered the oath of office, and 
the President returned to his lodgings, accompanied 
by the Vice-President, Chief Justice, heads of de- 
partments, and principal citizens. He was waited 
upon by many distinguished persons, and there was a 
general illumination in the evening, f 

* John Davis, an English traveller who was present on this occasion, 
wrote an account of it, in which he said [efferson "rode on horseback 
to the Capitol, without a single guard or even servant in his train, dis- 
mounted without assistance and hitched the bridle of his horse to the 
palisades. ( )n the basis of this account it has often been said that 
the President-elect rode " alone," as a protest against the ostentation 
of Washington, who, in New York (a city of several thousand inhabi- 
tants), rode in a highly ornamented coach. Davis says that "the 
Senate Chamber was filled with citizens from the remotest places of 
the Union The planter, the farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, all 
seemed to catch uncommon transport of enthusiasm.'' 

t An account of Jefferson's inauguration was found a few months 
ago by 'Major Ben- Perley Poore, in the Congressional Library, in a 
small pamphlet (Political Pamphlets, vol. 101) printed in Philadelphia 
at the time. It substantiates the above statements. 



ROTATION IN OFFICE. 379 

Jefferson reduced the pomp and circumstance of 
official life* and emphasized the change that had 
come over the administration in many other ways. 
The Alien and Sedition acts had expired by limit- 
ation, but he uttered his protest against them 
anew, by showing friendship for those against whom 
the Alien act especially had been aimed, and pardoning 
all who were imprisoned under the Sedition law. He 
wrote to Dr. Priestley who had been threatened 
by the Alien law, with warm sympathy, and appointed 
Albert Gallatin, the Swiss Republican, Secretary of 
the Treasury. He gave the chief offices of gov- 
ernment, then held by Federalists, to members of 
his own party,f thus giving support to that system 
which has since become so much of a drawback to the 
efficiency of the departments and the source of much 
corruption in politics. 

The great event of the first term of Jefferson's 
administration was the purchase from France of 
the territory west of the Mississippi River. This 
region had secretly been transferred by Spain to 
France in 1800, and Napoleon was intending to 

*That levelling philosopher, Jefferson, was the first President who 
broke down all decorum and put himself, when abroad, upon a footing 
with the plainest farmer of Virginia. I say " when abroad," because 
in his family he lived luxuriously and was fastidious in the choice of 
his company, but when he wanted to catch the applause of the vulgar, 
with whom, however, he was too proud to associate, he would ride out 
without a servant, and hitch his nag to the railing of the Presidential 
palace.— Recollectiotis of Samuel Breck. 

t Being criticised for these removals, he uttered a sentiment that 
has become proverbial, saying to some New Haven merchants in 1801, 
"If due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to 
be obtained ? Those by death are few ; by resignation none." 



380 FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 

send an armed colony thither to take possession. 
Meantime the Spaniards had deprived the United 
States of the right of deposit at New Orleans,* and 
the whole region interested in the navigation of the 
Ohio and Mississippi rivers was in a state of ferment, 
and especially was this true of Kentucky. It hap- 
pened that just before the plan of sending an armed 
French force to Louisiana had been carried into 
effect, Napoleon saw that it would be to his interest 
to strengthen the United States against England, 
especially as he became aware that in a war then 
imminent between France and England, if he did 
not make friends with our country, he would find 
it an ally of his enemy. He therefore listened to 
a proposition made through James Monroe and Mr. 
Livingston, for the purchase of the territory, and 
sold it, saving as he did so, that he had given to 
England a rival that would sooner or later humble 
her pride. The price paid for this vast region of 
more than a million square miles, was fifteen millions 
of dollars, out of which the United States agreed 
to settle certain claims against France held by 
American citizens, amounting to three and a quarter 
million dollars. As the treaty was signed, Mr. Liv- 
ingston said to the other signers, "This is the noblest 
work of our whole lives. The treaty . . . will 
change vast solitudes into flourishing districts. From 

* In 1795, Thomas Finckney had effected a treaty with Spain by the 
terms of which the right of the United States was recognized to 
navigate the Mississippi River, and to deposit merchandise free of 
duty at New Orleans. At the same time, Spain bound herself, if 
she were to shut us out of New Orleans, to assign an equivalent 
place of deposit on the banks of the river. This, with great injustice, 
the Spanish intendent now neglected to do. 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 381 

this day the United States take their place among 
the powers of the first rank. The United States 
will re-establish the maritime rights of all the world." 
This purchase (like the appropriation of public 
funds for building the Cumberland Road, in 1806) 
was in controvention of the "Strict Construction" 
principles professed by Jefferson and his party, and 
the President called upon Mr. Madison, then Sec- 
retary of State, to prepare an amendment to the 
Constitution adapted to the emergency. Public 
opinion, however, supported the acquisition, and the 
amendment was not acted upon. The region occu- 
pied by the United States by virtue of the sale, 
comprised most of the territory of the States of 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, 
Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, the Indian 
Territory, and Dakota, and the whole of Montana, 
Idaho, Oregon and Washington Territory.* This 
vast tract was not carefully described at the time, 
and the title to the whole of it was not determined 
until after the treaty with Great Britain of June 15, 
1846, which defined the limits westward of the Rocky 
Mountains, confirming the title of the United States 
to more than three hundred thousand square miles. 
The representative of France in the negotiation was 
Francois, Marquis de Barbe-Marbois, who obtained 
a sum considerably greater than Napoleon had 
authorized him to sell the tract for. 



* In 1829 M. Barbe-Marbois, published a Historie de la Louisiane, 
accompanied by a map on which the limits of the territory incor- 
porated into that of the United States are laid down as above 
described, but he explains that the region on the Pacific coast was 
not included in the sale, though actually occupied by the United States, 



382 FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 

The pirates of the Mediterranean had, towards 
the end of the eighteenth century, preyed on the 
commerce of the world, excepting that of those 
countries which paid blackmail to the governments 
that sent them out. In 1795, our government, the 
commerce of which had greatly suffered, entered into 
an agreement with the dey of Algiers, whose free- 
booters had captured two American vessels and 
thrown their crews into bondage, to pay him seven 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars cash, and some 
fifty thousand dollars, annually, for the release of 
these seamen and the future security of our ships. 

Treaties were also bought from the States of Tripoli 
and Tunis, but in 1801 the bey of Tripoli declared war 
against the United States, in order to get an increase 
of tribute. The war was concluded by a treaty 
effected June 4, 1805, by which all future tribute was 
abolished, but a large sum was paid for the freedom 
of Americans then in the hands of the pirates. It 
was a naval war, and did not have great results 
excepting in training the United States navy, and 
in showing the wisdom of the Federalists who 
demanded a stronger naval force than Jefferson 
thought necessary. The war was rendered notable, 
however, by the gallant conduct of the seamen gen- 
erally, and especially by the daring of Stephen 
Decatur, then a young lieutenant, who ran into the 
harbor of Tripoli with a small vessel and destroyed 
an American frigate, the Philadelphia, under the 
very guns of the castle, and returned without loss. 

The candidate for the office of Vice-President at the 
first election of Jefferson, was Aaron Burr, a man of 
brilliant parts, but without principle. He had the 



THE STORY OF AARON BURR. 



383 



same number of votes in the electoral college that 
Jefferson received, and it devolved upon the House of 
Representatives to declare which of the two should 
have the higher office, since by the Constitution, as 
it then stood, the person receiving the greatest num- 
ber of votes was to be President, and the second in 
order Vice-President. Soon losing his popularity, and 




WASHINGTON ANT) LEE UNIVERSITY, LEXINGTON, VA. 



foreseeing that though Jefferson would be re-nominated 
for his office, no such fortune was in store for him, 
Burr endeavored to capture the office of Governor of 
New York In this attempt he failed, through the 
influence of Hamilton, as he thought. Challenging 
Hamilton to mortal combat, he deliberately shot him, 



8K4 Federalist and republican. 

and was obliged to hide himself from popular indigna- 
tion, for the people knew the virtues of Alexander 
Hamilton and mourned his loss as a national calamity. 

During the administration of President Adams, a 
plan had been formed to wrench from Spain her 
South American possessions, and prominent Federal- 
ists had for a considerable time negotiated with one 
Miranda, a Spanish adventurer, for the perfection of 
the plans. The accession of Napoleon to power in 
France had happily thwarted these schemes. In his 
dejection Burr now thought of the plan, and seems to 
have determined to raise an army with which he might 
take Mexico from Spain, unite it to the Western and 
Southwestern States, and form an empire in which he 
should be dictator, with perhaps power enough to 
overturn the American Government. This was 
treason, and when the plan was discovered, Burr was 
arrested in Southwestern Alabama, whither he had 
escaped in 1807, and tried for that offence. He was 
acquitted for want of evidence that he had actually 
embodied an army within the State where the trial 
was held, though there were those who thought that 
the acquittal was a partisan act, the high-minded Chief 
Justice Marshal being accused of having favored Burr 
on political grounds. After the trial, Burr became a 
friendless wanderer. 

The story of the life of Harman Blennerhassett, an 
Irish exile whom Burr ruined by involving him in this 
scheme, is told in a brochure published in Chillicothe, 
O., in 1850. It contains the elements of a deeply 
absorbing romance, bringing before the reader the 
polished and unprincipled Burr, and his devoted 
daughter, Theodosia, offset by the guileless simplicity 



THE mix OF BLENNERHA8BETT. 385 

of Blennerhassett and the ardent attachment of his 
cultivated wife. The scene broadens ; takes us 
through the West and Southwest, exhibits many other 
characters and wild and exciting incidents. Before the 
sad story ends, Burr becomes an outcast and a wan- 
derer, without brother, sister, friend or child. Theo- 
dosia had been lost at sea in a vessel that set out from 
Charleston for New York, and was never heard of. 
Blennerhassett, after vain efforts to retrieve his 
fortunes, dies in a foreign land, comforted in his last 
moments by his loving but distressed wife ; and, fin- 
ally, just as the American Congress, led by Clay and 
others, is about to appropriate funds to enable her to 
enjoy her last days in comfort, Mrs. Blennerhassett 
dies in New York, in poverty and pain, an object of 
charity, ministered to by a society of women of her own 
warm-hearted Irish people. 

The foreign commerce of America had at this time 
become so great as practically to comprise the 
carrying trade of the world, and England became 
desirous of limiting it. She had, as we know, inter- 
posed some difficulties by insisting upon the right of 
search and the impressment of such seamen as her 
commanders might consider British subjects. She 
now not only reasserted this right, but declared that 
American vessels though neutral, were not exempt 
from siezure if they carried produce from countries 
with which she was at war. The American coasts 
were infested with privateers. American commerce 
was suffering from British interference, and, in 1805, 
the President recommended that active measures 
should be taken for protection. 

In 1806, a treaty was concluded by Monroe and 



•6m 



FKDK R A LIST A -V I) HE P UB L 1CA A . 



Pinckney, by which these troubles with Great Britain 
would have been stopped, but as a treaty with Eng- 
land would have been detrimental to our interests with 
France, Jefferson did not send the document to the 
Senate, and it was never ratified. This action of the 
President caused a tumult of excitement. The situa- 




PEAIv — IX THE IIKAIJT OF THE CONTINENT. 



tion was still more complicated by the Berlin (Novem- 
ber 21, 1806) and Milan (December 17, 1807) decrees 
of Napoleon, which declared that the British Islands 
were in a state of blockade, and threatened with seizure 
all vessels trading with England or her dependencies, 
and the retaliatory " Orders in council" of England, 



JEFFERSON '8 EMBARGO. 387 

November 11, 1807, which prohibited commerce with 
all portions of Europe except Russia. 

June 22, 1807, one of our frigates, the Chesapeake, 
when just going to sea from Norfolk, Va., was 
overhauled by a British man-of-war, the Leopard, 
the officers of which came aboard as friends, and 
then astonished the Commodore by demanding to 
search the vessel for deserters. The demand was 
refused, and the vessel prepared for action ; but before 
this was accomplished, the Leopard poured her broad- 
sides into the Chesapeake, and compelled surrender. 
Four men were taken, three of whom proved to be 
American citizens, and the British government was 
compelled to disavow the outrage and promise repa- 
ration, which, by the way, was never given. 

This action led to the proclamation of the President 
forbidding all British war ships to enter American 
ports, and December 22, 1807, Congress, at the 
request of President Jefferson, passed an act pro- 
hibiting exportations and the sailing of American 
vessels from home ports This act, called "Jeffer- 
son's Embargo," remained in force until the end of 
the- term of Jefferson's office,* together with the acts 
of France and England, news of all of which, how- 
ever, excepting the Berlin decree and the Orders in 
council, had not reached America. The embargo act 
prostrated American commerce and brought home 
from all quarters of the globe, her busy merchantmen. 

* Congress had laid an embargo for sixtv clays, June 4, 1794, and 
had finally left it to the discretion of President Washington to con- 
tinue it until the end of the Congressional recess. The "great" 
embargo is the one mentioned in the text. The third was laid 
April 4, 1S12, and continued until the declaration of war with England, 
June i>S. The fourth, lasting four months, was laid December 19, 1813. 



388 FEDERALIST AM) REPUBLICAN. 

The West and South, not being so extensively 
engaged in foreign commerce as the New England 
and Middle States, were better satisfied with this 
measure, by which Jefferson intended to ward off 
war ; but in the maritime States the opposition to 
it was intense, and it showed itself in indignant 
public meetings and fiery addresses, as well as in 
votes, which, in two months more than a year, caused 
its repeal. It was in force, however, to within three 
days of the end of Jefferson's term of office, and 
he believed that if it had not been repealed, the 
war of 18 1 2 would have been averted. He attributed 
the great power of New England in breaking down 
his favorite act to the township system, which enables 
that portion of the country to bring so great a pro- 
portion of its best citizens to the polls. 

The administration of Jefferson had been a mem- 
orable period. It had seen the territory of the 
United States vastly increased by the purchase of 
Louisiana from France; it had seen the first practical 
steamboat on the waters of the world;* it had put 

* Robert Fulton, of New York, went from that city to Albany, in 
1807, in the Clermont, a side-wheel steamboat, driven by an engine 
that he had bought in England of Boulton and Watt, and adapted to 
the purpose of steam navigation. It was not the fust steamboat, but 
the first that ran for practical purposes and proved of actual value. 

Steamboats and railways were not considered unmitigated bless- 
ings, and Mr. Samuel Breck, writing in 1S30, of his early recollections, 
said: "Gentlemen of fortune travelled then in better style than they 
do now. They did not get along so fast, but they went more securely, 
more agreeably, and more comfortably. Steamboats have ruined the 
inns, and in annihilating space have nearly broken up all private, 
genteel travelling. Everything now is done in vast crowds. Caravans 
move in mobs, and he who goes abroad nowadays must submit to the 
hugger-mugger assemblage of a steamboat on the water and a pro- 
cession of ten or twelve coaches on the land. Our fathers were not 
in such haste, nor so fond of kicking up a dust." 




MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS, COLORADO. 



THE WEST EXPLORED. 391 

an end to Mediterranean piracy, it had seen a Mar- 
shall* complete the establishment of American law 
upon a firm basis, it had sent Meriwether Lewis and 
William Clarke f across the continent to point the 
way to the Pacific Ocean and show the possibilities 
for growth in that direction ; it had begun the new 
policy of purchasing Indian lands, and establishing 
the tribes on reservations where they should be edu- 
cated to rely more upon agriculture than hunting; 
and it had fixed at Washington in some degree the 
fashions of republican simplicity which the first two 
Presidents dared not introduce for fear of compromis- 
ing their official dignity 4 

During this administration, the subject of internal 

* John Marshall was burn at Germantown, Va., in 1755, and served 
in the army of the Revolution, resigning in 1781. He supported the 
Constitution, and contributed more to its adoption by his native State 
than any other person except Madison. Appointed Justice of the 
Supreme Court the last day of 1801, he occupied the high office 
thirty-five years. I lis decisions in the department of Constitutional 
law were of the greatest importance at the beginning of the nation, 
and have always been deemed of the highest authority. Judge Story 
said of them, that for " power of thought, beauty of illustration, 
variety of learning, and elegant demonstrations," thev "are justly 
numbered among the highest reaches of the human mind." 

t Lewis and Clark were commissioned by Jefferson in 1803 to 
explore the region between the Mississippi River and the Pacific 
Ocean. Lewis had been Jefferson's private Secretary, and Clarke 
was familiar with the Indians and their ways. Their expedition 
occupied more than two years, and was of great importance to geo- 
graphical science and to the future growth of America. 

t Mr. Jefferson composed the epitaph which he wished upon his 
tomb, and it shows the importance that he placed upon the different 
acts of his administration. It is : "Here was buried Thomas Jeffer- 
son, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of 
Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of 
Virginia." 



392 



FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. 




COACHING REVIVED. 



improvements by the general government, made its 
entrance into American politics. It was denied by 
the strict constructionists that the Constitution gave 
the government power to appropriate money for the 
purpose, but they supported some of the most em- 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 393 

phatic enterprises of the sort notwithstanding. In 
1807, Secretary Gallatin was directed to report a scheme 
for a general movement in this direction, and the next 
year he proposed a great road from Maine to Georgia, 
to cost 57,800,000.00, and canals and other works 
estimated to cost in all twenty millions. The ques- 
tion stirred political circles for half a century. In 
1838. John C. Calhoun declared that his life should 
be devoted to efforts to stop internal improvements 
by Congress, in the hope of restoring the government 
to its pristine purity, but in 18 16, he had believed the 
powers of Congress ample to "bind the republic 
together by a perfect system of roads and canals," 
and reported a bill to appropriate money for the pur- 
pose. 

This embryo capital, where fancy sees 
Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees; 
Which second-sighted seers, e'en now, adorn, 
With shrines unbuilt and heroes yet unborn. 
Though nought but woods and Jefferson they see, 
Where streets should run and sages ought to be. 

— Thomas Moore, Letter from Washington, in 1S04. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

JAMES MADISON, of Virginia, a graduate of 
the College of New Jersey, a scholar of extensive 
culture, and, as Jefferson said, " of a pure and spot- 
less virtue which no calumny has ever attempted to 
sully," became the fourth President of the United 
States, March 4th, 1809. He was a man who made 
his mark by the strength of his character and the 
closeness of his logic ; not by aggressiveness or impet- 
uosity. At first a Federalist, and one of the authors 
of the essays which so much influenced public opinion 
at the time that the Constitution was under consid- 
eration, he subsequently became a leader in the 
opposition party, and when he took the place of Presi- 
dent Jefferson, made no change in the policy of the 
government. It was hoped, however, that he would 
not sympathize with the strong anti-British senti- 
ments of his predecessor, and the public expected that 
the pending difficulties with England would soon be 
settled. 

At the moment when the new President assumed 
his office, the Governor of Canada, Sir James Craig, 
was plotting in an underhanded way to undermine the 
Union, by commissioning an adventurer, John Henry 
by name, to go to Boston to organize a revolution in 

394 



JOHN HENRY'S SCHEME. 395 

favor of England.* This man seems to have been 
simply looking for an opportunity to fill his pockets, 
but he managed, three years later, to give the impres- 
sion that he had been the accredited agent of the 
British government to increase the antagonism of the 
Federal party against the Union, to deepen the dis- 
content already felt in New England, and to create a 
popular feeling in favor of the secession of the 
Eastern States and their union with Canada. The 
government paid Henry fifty thousand dollars for his 
pretended revelations, and the feeling of the public was 
strengthened against England to a wonderful extent. 
The Federalists could not prove the falsity of the 
story of Henry, though it was not shown that he had 
succeeded in corrupting a single American, and the 
Republicans, or Democrats, were glad to have such 
telling testimony against their partisan opponents as 
Henry was popularly supposed to have furnished. It 
was generally believed that the British ministry had 
been proved to be more hostile to America and less 
to be trusted than it had been supposed to be, and the 
war feeling was greatly increased. 

The Embargo Act, which had been repealed three 
days before Madison entered office, was followed by 
other measures intended to offset the unfriendly acts 
of Great Britain and France, but they were neither suc- 
cessful nor popular. They all interfered with Ameri- 
can commerce, and did no special damage to her oppo- 
nents. In 1810, in seemed as though France was 
about to institute friendly measures, when Napoleon 
promised to retract his decrees of which the United 
States complained, provided England would recall its 

* See Schouler's "History of the United States," ii. 346-47. 



396 WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

Orders in council. This England refused to do until 
France should actually set the example. The negotia- 
tions dropped without effect. 

The second session of the eleventh Congress was 
noteworthy on account of a debate upon the proposi- 
tion to enable the territory of Orleans to become a 
member of the Union, a movement that was earnestly 
opposed by the Federalists of New England, who 
construed the clause in the Constitution regarding 
the admission of new States as applying only to the 
territory of the then existing Union, and not to any 
acquired, as this had been, since the adoption of the 
Constitution. The founders of the republic had grave 
fears that a republican government was not possible 
in an extended country, and though Washington had 
declared in his farewell address that there was reason 
to hope "that a proper organization of the whole, 
with the auxiliary agency of government for the 
respective subdivisions," might "afford a happy issue 
to the experiment," others were still fearful lest 
expansion should prove disastrous, and they opposed 
this, the first proposition to erect a State west of the 
Mississippi River. When the bill was under discus- 
sion, in the midst of loud cries of "Order! order!" 
Josiah Ouincy said (January 14, 181 1), "If this bill 
passes, it is my deliberate opinion that it is virtually 
a dissolution of the Union ; that it will free the 
States from their moral obligation, and, as it will be 
the right of all, so it will be the duty of some defi- 
nitely to prepare for a separation ; amicably, if they 
can, violently, if they must." 

Mr. Ouincy looked with dismay upon the regions 
watered by the Mississippi, the Missouri and 'the Red 



disunion sK.xriM i:\rs. 397 

rivers, over which the imagination of the ambitious 
might venture, should the first step be taken into the 
vast territory ; but he lived to see his vaticination dis- 
proved, and to find himself a devoted believer in a still 
grander future of his extended country. 

The war feeling continued to grow in popularity, 
and it was strengthened in May, 181 1, when, owing to 
an informality in hailing, the American frigate Presi- 
dent had received from the British sloop of war Little 
Belt a cannon ball in her mainmast, and it had 
returned the fire with a broadside in the dark, killing 
eleven and wounding twice that number. 

Six months later Congress met, with Henry Clay as 
speaker, and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina as 
one of its members.* The feeling in favor of war 
with England had grown still stronger. It was cal- 
culated that within eight years, nine hundred Ameri- 
can vessels had been boarded and searched, and six 
thousand seamen forced into the British navy. Con- 
gress showed its sympathy with the popular feeling 
by taking measures which had but one significance — 
war with England. It increased the army and navy, 

* Henry Clay, son of a Baptist minister, was born near Richmond, 
Va., in 1777, and before he came of age removed to Kentucky, with 
which State he was afterwards identified. Me became a member of 
the United States Senate in 1806, and was a prominent figure in 
American politics ever after. He was Speaker of the House in 
1S11. He was candidate for the Presidency in 18:4, and Secretary 
of State under John Quincy Adams. 

John Caldwell Calhoun, the advocate of State rights, was born in 
South Carolina in 1782, and died in 1S50. He graduated at Yale 
College, entered the South Carolina Legislature in 1S0S, and the 
National House of Representatives in 1S11. He held afterwards the 
offices of Secretary of War, Vice-President, United States Senator 
and Secretary of State. 



898 WAR, WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

and authorized the President to call out the militia, 
accept volunteers, and borrow eleven million of 
dollars. 

The President was not a leader in war measures. 
He hesitated, and it was not until a committee, headed 
by Henry Clay, had called upon him and intimated 
that he would not be presented for re-election unless 
he declared for war, that he was able to decide in favor 
of the wishes of the nation. On the twentieth day of 
May, information was received from London that there 
was no reasonable hope that the British government 
would withdraw from its positions regarding the rights 
of neutrals and the right of search, and on the first 
of June the President sent to Congress a message in 
which he showed that the British nation was virtually 
at war with the United States, and enumerated the 
grievances under which the government was suffering. 
This message was discussed in secret session, and a 
report of the committee on foreign relations was made 
to the House by John C. Calhoun, chairman, the result 
of which was that the President issued his proclamation 
declaring war, on the eighteenth of June, 1812. It hap- 
pened that on the twenty-third of the same month, be- 
fore the news of this move could have reached England, 
France having unconditionally withdrawn her objec- 
tionable decrees, Great Britain repealed her Orders in 
council. Had this been done a few days earlier, war 
would probably have been averted. 

The Senate and the House were not very strongly 
united on the war question, the majority in the Sen- 
ate being but four in favor of war, and in the House 
but thirty, and the nation was as much divided. The 
consequence was that the President's proclamation 



THREATS OF DISUNION. 399 

roused violent partisan feeling, for though the watch- 
word of the war was " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights," 
it was understood to be a party measure. Josiah 
Ouincy of Massachusetts, drew up an address to the 
people, which was signed by thirty-eight members of 
the House, protesting against the war, and the Legis- 
latures of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey 
issued addresses of the same character. On the con- 
trary, it was evident that a majority of the people 
was in favor of the war, and they testified their ap- 
proval by illuminations, resolutions of approval and 
pledges to support the measure. In Baltimore violence 
was resorted to to suppress the opposition, the office 
of the Federal Republican, and the dwellings of some 
Federalists, being sacked by a mob on the twenty- 
second of June. One general was killed, another 
lamed for life ; others were assaulted ; and, notwith- 
standing, the ringleaders were acquitted. Threats of 
dissolution of the Union, with which the reader of 
American history has by this time become well ac- 
quainted, were openly made in private talk and in ser- 
mons, in deliberative bodies and in State Legislatures. 
One Boston clergyman declared that the Union had 
long since been virtually dissolved, and that it was 
time for New England to take care of herself. The 
commerce of the country felt the distress consequent 
upon the war, and sympathized with New England in 
its intense opposition to it, an opposition that gave 
new life to the Federal party. 

Both nations were unprepared for the struggle ; 
England because it had not believed that the United 
States would carry out its intention after the cause 
had been partially removed, no less than because it 



400 WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

was not free from its struggle with Napoleon ; and 
the United States because its army was small, its navy 
unworthy the name, its revenue inadequate even to 
the demands of peace, and its people divided in coun- 
cil. Despite these odds, the United States determined 
to begin the war by an aggressive movement, and an 
army was prepared to invade Canada. The command 
was entrusted to Governor William Hull, of Michigan, 
who had done gallant service in the Revolution. His 
irresolution and pusilanimity on this campaign cost 
the country an ignominious surrender, the loss of 
Michigan Territory, and of an army numbering twenty- 
five hundred men. Hull was tried and sentenced to 
be shot, but was pardoned on account of his earlier 
services. 

Another expedition against Canada resulted disas- 
trously, and the advantage on land rested with the 
British, but on the ocean the feeble navy under the 
command of Hull, Jones, Decatur and Bainbridge, 
made such remarkable successes that England was 
amazed and terrified, while the Americans were to 
some degree compensated for the losses on land. 
American privateers also so effectively preyed upon 
British commerce that three hundred English mer- 
chantmen were taken during the first seven months 
of the war, and much wealth added to the stores of 
the people. The first notable naval victory was that 
gained by Captain Isaac Hull, nephew of the general, 
who with the frigate Constitution (afterwards called 
Old Ironsides) met the British frigate Guerriere, 
and after a fight of thirty minutes, reduced her to a 
complete wreck. Hull received ovations in New York, 
Boston and Philadelphia, and was rewarded by Con- 



(OMMODORE PERRY'S VICTORY. 403 

gress with a gold medal and fifty thousand dollars for 
his crew. 

The campaign of 1813 was entered upon after 
much the same fashion as that of 18 12, and with 
corresponding results. There were victories on the 
sea and ineffective conflicts on land. On Lake Erie 
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry created a navy, and 
captured the entire British navy, sending to General 
Harrison the famous despatch, " We have met the enemy 
and they are ours ; two ships, two brigs, one schooner, 
and one sloop. ,; For this victory, Perry was compli- 
mented by the President in a message to Congress. 
It enabled Harrison to make further progress, for he 
met the British under General Proctor, on the River 
Thames, between lakes St. Clair and Huron, when he 
defeated him and his Indian allies under Tecumseh,* 
who was killed. By this victory all was regained that 
Hull had lost at the beginning of the war. 

At the commencement of the war, Tecumseh had 
in 1805, visited the Indians of the Mississippi valley 
and the South, and had stirred them to a fanatical 
antagonism against the whites. The Creeks and the 
Seminoles carried on their hostilities against the 
inhabitants of Georgia, and were repressed by General 

* Tecumseh, a chief of the Shawnees, was born near Springfield, 
O., about 1770. In connection with his brother, an impostor known 
as " the Prophet," he entered into a grand conspiracy against the 
whites. In 1809, he refused to sign the treaty with the United States 
when Genera] Harrison had purchased three million acres of land 
of the Indians, and prepared to destroy the American forces. He 
collected a considerable body of Indians, which, under command of 
the prophet (during Tecumseh's absence in the South), burst upon 
Harrison's army near the mouth of the Tippecanoe, November 7th, 
t8ii, but was routed. Tecumseh thereafter threw himself into the 
British cause. 



4<)4 WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

Jackson with a force of twenty-five hundred Tennessee 
volunteers. Again, in August, 1813, they attacked 
the whites at Fort Mims, firing the houses and massa- 
cring all but seventeen of the garrison. Again 
Tennessee sent out a force larger than the former, 
and the Indians were completely overcome. The last 
important battle of the campaign was fought March 
27, 1 8 14, at Horse Shoe Bend, and resulted in the 
destruction of six hundred warriors, and the sub- 
mission of the chiefs. Among those who fought with 
Jackson at this time, were Sam Houston and Davy 
Crockett. 

The campaign of 18 14 opened with the promise of 
greater results on the part of the British arms, for the 
close of the war with Napoleon had enabled the gov- 
ernment to send large reinforcements to the army in 
America. The outlook for the United States was 
discouraging. Congress voted an increase of the 
regular army (for the purpose of defence), and a new 
loan of twenty-five millions of dollars. 

The British admiral Cochrane was peremptorily 
instructed to " destroy and lay waste all towns and 
districts in the United States " found accessible to 
his attacks, and the American seaboard was in sad 
condition. The coasts of New England had been 
visited, and some of the towns seized. Others bought 
their immunity, but Stonington, Ct., when bom 
barded, was so effectively guarded by its citizens 
as to inflict considerable loss on the attacking 
fleet. New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore 
strengthened their fortifications, and a considerable 
force was assigned to the protection of Washington. 

Durino- two vears the Southern coast was ravaged 




Mtolfcili ' 



|i,li„i,i.,..li. li'j lii_j!H5 



GENERAL SCOTT AT NIAGARA. 407 

by the British, and in the summer of 1814, an advance 
was made upon Washington, where, after overcoming 
the militia at Bladensburgh, August 24th, the capitol, 
the Presidential mansion, and most of the public 
buildings, and the records, were given to the flames,* 
August 25th. General Ross, who had command of 
the expedition, proceeded to Baltimore with the inten- 
tion of repeating the scenes of devastation, but was 
effectually resisted, though he bombarded the city, 
and his forces were obliged to retreat. General Ross 
lost his life in this attack, September 12th. 

During this year a third Canada campaign was 
planned, which was more successful than those of pre- 
vious years had been. Though the first engagements 
resulted in disaster, there was a battle at the 
Chippewa River, at which the genius and persistence 
of Winfield Scott gained a victory, July 5th. The 
British General Riall retreated, and General Scott 
was detached to watch his movements. On the 
twenty-fifth of July, the two armies confronted each 
other near Niagara Falls, and the most severe battle 
of the campaign occurred, in which Riall was taken 
prisoner, Scott disabled for the war, and the British 
driven from the field by an inferior force, with great 
loss. 



* No American can hold his head up after this in Europe, or at 
home, when he reflects that a motley group of French, Spanish, Portu- 
guese and English, amounting to only four thousand, has successfully 
dared to march forty miles from their ships, and ruin our best navy- 
yard, invade our capital, and march in safetv, nay, unmolested, back to 
their vessels. O Democracy ! To what have vou brought us ! O 
Madison, Armstrong, and your conceited, ignorant, and improvident 
cabinet ! How guilty are vou towards this dishonored, unhappy 
nation ! — Breck's Recollections. 



408 WAR WTTH ORE AT BRITAIN. 

In August, an expedition was sent to invade New 
York by way of Lake Champlain, and it reached 
Plattsburgh without opposition. It was the line so 
unsuccessfully followed by Burgoyne. With fourteen 
thousand men, the British met the Americans under 
General McComb and Commodore MacDonough, and 
the fight began on land and water, September 15th. 
The ships fought for more than two hours, when the 
British, having lost their commander, struck their 
colors. On shore the British were no more success- 
ful, and the General was forced to abandon his cam- 
paign and retire speedily to Canada, after having lost 
some twenty-five hundred men, and wasted two and a 
half million dollars. 

Florida was at this time in possession of the Span- 
ish, but it was in August, US14, practically taken 
possession of by the British, who landed a consider- 
able force, with arms and supplies, and issued an 
address calling upon the inhabitants of the Southwest 
to rise and aid them in expelling the Americans from 
the territory. The London Times announced that 
the most active measures were in progress for detach- 
ing from the enemy a most important part of its terri- 
tory ; for it was plainly seen in England that whoever 
possessed New Orleans and the region about the 
delta of the Mississippi, would command a greater 
territory than was included by the boundary line of 
the whole United States besides. The commander 
at Pensacola endeavored to enlist the aid of a band of 
pirates who had preyed on the commerce of the 
world from the island of Barrataria, at the mouth of 
the Mississippi, but Commodore Patterson, then in 
charge of the sauadron at New Orleans, attacked the 



BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



409 



pirates, put them to flight, and took their entire fleet 
of vessels and prizes to New Orleans, September 16th. 
On the fifteenth of September the British made an 
attempt to take Fort Bowyer, off Mobile, but were 
repulsed and obliged to return to Pensacola. Jackson 
took this place on the sixth of November, after a 
smart action, and forced the British to take to their 




STATUE OF PRESIDENT JACKSON AT NEW OKLEANS. 

ships. Then, learning that the enemy had been for 
some time preparing an expedition against New 
Orleans, he took his comparatively small force thither 
to protect it. General Packenham, a veteran of the 
Peninsular Campaigns, and brother-in-law of Welling- 
ton, was in command of the British Expedition, which 
comprised fifty vessels, conveying a force of twelve 
thousand men, who had many of them been engaged 



410 WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

in the war with Napoleon. It bore also English mer- 
chants who came out to buy the cotton that was 
expected to form a portion of the plunder of the city. 
After a preliminary skirmish on the twenty-third of 
December, in which the British had the advantage, 
New Orleans was attacked by the veterans, but they 
encountered a determined general who knew no fear, 
entrenched behind an impenetrable breastwork of 
cotton bales, with sharpshooters from Tennessee and 
Kentucky, and heroes of the Creek War who had lived 
on acorns and flinched at no danger. The struggle 
lasted from dawn to eight in the evening, when the 
British were forced to retire to their works, with the 
loss of Packenham and twenty-six hundred men. The 
Americans lost an insignificant number — variously 
stated at from "thirteen" to "less than a hundred." 
The British soon after sailed to Jamaica. 

The intensity of party feeling magnified the impor- 
tance of a convention of a few Federalists,* which 
was held at Hartford at the time that Jackson's Cam- 
paign was in progress. The Massachusetts Legisla- 
ture, which in the earlier part of the war had refused 
the call of the President for troops, on the ground 
that it was the right of the Governor, and not of the 
President, to decide when the militia should be called 
out, now, October, 1814, called a convention from the 
States opposing the war, and appointed twelve dele- 
gates to deliberate upon the dangers to which the 

* The Hartford Convention — an innocent scheme with an ugly look 
— was taxed with treasonable or disloyal designs, although without 
good reason ; and vet the Secession of i86r justified itself by this un- 
wise measure of a party which the States joining in the Secession had 
for that very measure strongly denounced. — Theodore Dwight Wool- 
sey, LL.D., The Experiment of the Union with its Preparations. 



THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 413 

Eastern States were exposed, and to devise means of 
security " not repugnant to their obligations as mem- 
bers of the Union." It was thought that perhaps the 
plan of the Union had proved a failure, or at least 
that the Constitution needed amendment, to " secure 
the support and attachment of all the people, by plac- 
ing all upon the basis of fair representation." 

In response to the call, twenty-seven persons met at 
Hartford,* December 15, and remained in secret ses- 
sion. This secrecy added unnecessarily to the 
suspicion with which the acts of the body were 
viewed, and popular interest in it was very deep. 
When it adjourned, it sent a delegation to Washington 
to confer with the Federal government, and proposed 
another and more general convention to be held in 
Boston the following June. It offered seven prohibi- 
tory amendments to the Constitution, providing that 
there should be no representation of slaves, no em- 
bargo lasting longer than sixty days, no act of 
non-intercourse, nor war, except for defence, no 
admission of a State except by a two thirds vote in 
Congress, no election of naturalized citizens to Con- 

* Whatever were the intentions of the members of the Hartford 
Convention, it gave utterance to the principles of nullification as 
clearly as South Carolina did at a later date, and brought out ex- 
pressions from the party headed by Mr. Jefferson, on the other side. 
The Richmond Enquirer, for instance, then under the direction of 
Thomas Ritchie, said : " No man, no association of men, no State or 
set of States, has a right to withdraw itself from the Union of its own 
accord. The same power which knit us together can alone unknit. 
The same formality which formed the links of the Union is necessary 
to dissolve it. The majority of States which formed the Union must 
consent to the withdrawal of any one branch of it. Until that consent 
has been obtained, any attempt to dissolve the Union or obstruct the 
efficacy of its Constitutional laws is treason — treason to all intents 
and purposes." — The Great Rebellion, Page 32. 



414 WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

gress or to any civil office of the United States, and 
no re-election of a President or the choice of two suc- 
cessive Presidents from the same State. It was 
especially declared that " no hostility to the Constitu- 
tion " was meditated. When the committee reached 
Washington it found peace declared, and the subject 
dropped, except so far as it killed the Federal party 
and left its mark upon all who had participated in it, 
who were ridiculed and deprived of hope of political 
preferment. 

Three times during the progress of the war, Russia 
had proposed to act as mediator between the con- 
tending nations, but the offer had each time been 
refused by Great Britain. At last it consented to 
negotiate with commissioners of the United States, 
either at London or Gottenburg. Five commission- 
ers were sent to the latter place. They were John 
Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jona- 
than Russell and Albert Gallatin. The meeting 
actually occurred in Ghent, lasting from August 8th, 
to December 24th. The war had been begun for the 
redress of specific grievances, but the first claims 
were deliberately abandoned, and a general treaty 
made, which settled nothing, except that England 
recognized in the United States a power that it could 
no longer trifle with. There was, it is true, no 
further impressment of seamen from American ves- 
sels, and there is reason to believe that after indulg- 
ing in insolence and superciliousness, the British 
commissioners gave assurances that the wrongs com- 
plained of by the United States should trouble them 
no longer, and that they felt that the English naval 
supremacy had at last been worthily challenged, that, 



DECATUR IN ALGIERS. 415 

in fact, England could no more claim to rule the seas. 

The news of peace reached America on the eleventh 
of January, 1815, and electrified the nation. At the 
moment that it was rejoicing over the victory at New 
Orleans, gained after the articles of peace had been 
signed, special messengers were sent to the North 
and South with the news. Boston received it on Mon- 
day — it had reached New York on Saturday — and 
all the bells were rung, the schools were dismissed, 
and the region illuminated. Like scenes were enacted 
in other places, for the people did not stop to read the 
text of the articles. They rejoiced that a tedious war 
was over. 

Peace enabled the government to take efficient 
measures against the dey of Algiers who had taken 
advantage of the war to renew his depredations on 
American commerce, and Commodore Decatur was 
sent with a fleet to demand a treaty. Decatur com- 
pletely cowed the dey and forced him to sign a treaty, 
prepared beforehand, which gave indemnity for the 
depredations committed, renounced his claim of trib- 
ute, and surrendered all American prisoners. Deca- 
tur then advanced upon Tripoli and Tunis and com- 
pelled them also to renounce their claims of tribute, 
to pay for their violations of law, and to give bonds 
for their future good behavior. Thus ended the pay- 
ment of tribute to pirates by the United States. 

The war left the land in a deplorable condition. 
Its debt had grown to a hundred and twenty millions, 
its commerce was decayed, its manufactures almost 
dead, its banks suspended, and its people burdened 
with taxation. To aid towards recovery, a new national 
bank was established in 18 16 (in place of that estab- 



41(3 



WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 



lishecl in the time of Washington, of which the charter 
had expired in 1811), with a capital of thirty-five mil- 
lions, and a tariff on imports, amounting almost to pro- 
hibition, was proposed, to protect home manufactures. 
At the election of 18 16, James Monroe of Virginia, 
was chosen President, and Madison retired to private 
life, after a tumultuous administration of eight years. 




IN AN OLD DRAWING-ROOM. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

THE portion of our history to be considered in 
the present chapter comprises the two admin- 
istrations of the fifth President, James Monroe, and 
that of President John Quincy Adams. It introduces 
us to the administration of the hero of New Orleans, 
Andrew Jackson, a man whose salient characteristics 
inspired his followers with enthusiastic admiration, 
and whose arbitrary acts made him at times an unsafe 
director of public affairs. 

The period is to be remembered for the renewal of 
confidence in the future of the country, and the tem- 
porary burial of party and sectional jealousies, which 
made it possible for Monroe to be chosen President 
for a second term, by the unanimous vote of the 
Electoral College ; but it was also the time of those 
vigorous discussions of the subject of slavery which 
led to the " Missouri compromise " of 1820. It was 
President Monroe * who promulgated the doctrine that 
still bears his name (though its real author is said to 

* The genesis of " The Monroe Doctrine " is very fully presented 
in the volume on James Monroe, in the series of sketches of American 
Statesmen, by Daniel C. Gilman, President of John Hopkins Uni- 
versity, pp. 156-174. The earliest suggestion of it (1780) is traced to 
Thomas Pownall, Governor of Massachusetts, New Jersey and South 
Carolina; the person who first called American citizens "sovereigns." 

417 



418 THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

have been John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of 
State), which declares that the American continents 
are not to be considered as subjects for colonization 
by any European power. During this period (in 
1 819) Spain ceded Florida to the United States. The 
aged Lafayette visited the country that he had aided 
in its struggle for freedom (in 1824), the Indian Terri- 
tory was established, and the plan to remove the 
Indians thither was perfected. 

This was a time when public improvements were 
carried forward with great energy. The Erie Canal 
was formally opened in 1825 ; the first steamship, the 
Savannah, crossed the Atlantic in 1829, and the first 
steam locomotive began to draw trains on the Dela- 
ware and Hudson Canal railroad in 1829; the semi- 
centennial celebration of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, in 1826, was marked by the simultaneous 
deaths in Massachusetts and Virginia respectively,* 
of Presidents Adams and Jefferson, who half a century 
before had signed their names to the document that 
had given the keynote to all the patriotism of the 
revolution, and still stands, like the Magna Charta of 
England, as the corner-stone of our rights and freedom. 
The period began with an amount of good feeling 
that seemed to promise the entire obliteration of 
sectional and party strife. Commerce revived, slowly, 
it is true, manufactures prospered, and all old parties 
actually died out as the reasons for their existence 
disappeared, but the very improvement in business, 

* By an interesting coincidence, President Monroe also died on the 
anniversary of the Nation's birth in New York City, in 1831. Up to the 
end of the administration of the younger Adams, Virginia and Massa- 
chusetts were the only Commonwealths that had furnished Presidents 
to the United States. 



NEW STATES. 



421 



and the increase of population that resulted from emi- 
gration, brought new subjects to the front, and new 
parties were formed, new complications arose. 

Before the end of Monroe's administration, the 
original thirteen States had become twenty-four. 
During the administration of Washington, Vermont 
(1791), Kentucky (1792) and Tennessee (1796) had 
been admitted to the Union. Vermont was harrassed 
by claims of New York on one side, and New Hamp- 
shire on the other. It had applied for admission to 




THE PRESIDENTIAL MANSION AT WASHINGTON, FINISHED 

IN 1829. 



the Union as early as 1777, but had been refused 
on account of the claims of New York. Vermont 
then received overtures from Canada which alarmed 
Congress and led to a proposal for her admission to 
the Union on certain terms, in 1782. Madison after- 
wards explained that the causes of the delay in this 
case were jealousy on the part of the other States of 
the growth of " Eastern interests," and the inexpedi- 
ency of giving to so unimportant a State a vote equal 



422 THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

to that of the others in determining the great ques- 
tions of public policy. The interests of New York 
in the Territory of Vermont was bought in 1789, for 
thirty thousand dollars. 

Seventeen years after Daniel Boone of North Car- 
olina had established himself at Boonesborough, the 
population of Kentucky had increased to seventy- 
three thousand, and emigrants were coming in in 
large numbers. She was then admitted to the 
Union, the last year of Washington's first term. A 
portion of her territory had been claimed by Virginia, 
but this was now relinquished. In like manner, in 
the same year North Carolina gave up her claims to 
the Territory of Tennessee, which, in 1796 was admit- 
ted to the Union with a population almost as large as 
that of Kentucky at the time of her admission. 

When the Northwestern Territory was formed in 
1787, Connecticut ceded her claim to the Territory of 
Ohio to the general government, but with a reser- 
vation of a certain portion which has ever since been 
known as the " Connecticut Reserve," or the Western 
Reserve. The charter of Connecticut gave her a strip 
of land reaching across the continent, excepting 
such portions as were at the time (1621) actually pos- 
sessed or inhabited by any other Christian prince or 
State. This excluded New York from her jurisdiction, 
and it accounts for the possession by a New England 
State of a tract so remote from the seaboard. Ohio, the 
seventeenth State, and the first formed from the 
Northwestern Territory, was admitted to the Union in 
1802. The remainder became the Territory of 
Indiana. 

The southern portion of Louisiana after its pur- 



WESTERN REGIONS OPENING. 



42:; 



chase from France, became the Territory of Orleans, 
but in 1812, it was admitted to the Union as the 
State of Louisiana. In 18 16, the State of Indiana 
was formed out of the southeastern part of the Terri- 




STARTING FOR THE WKST, 



tory of the same name, and entered the Union with a 
population of ninety-eight thousand, and the smallest 
area possessed by any of the Western States. 



424 THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

The States of Louisiana and Indiana were the only 
ones added to the Union during the administration of 
Madison, but that of Monroe, owing to the rapidity 
with which the territory was growing and the popula- 
tion increasing, was prolific in new members of the 
Union. From 1817 to 1821, five new States were 
formed: Mississippi, 18 17; Illinois, 181 8; Alabama, 
1 8 19; Maine, 1821, and Missouri, 1821. Three of 
these came into the Union without any special excite- 
ment ; but there was a long and bitter debate over 
the admission of Maine and Missouri, the consequen- 
ces of which had a lasting influence upon American 
politics. In 1802, Georgia, which claimed all the ter- 
ritory between its present limits and the Mississippi 
River, ceded it to the general government and it be- 
came the Territory of Mississippi, from which were 
formed Mississippi (1817) and Alabama (1819). In 
1 818, the southern portion of the Territory of Illinois 
became the State of Illinois. 

Missouri applied for admission before Alabama had 
entered the Union, but the proposition involved the 
discussion of the subject of the extension of slavery, 
and the admission was postponed. It was the natural 
time for a new free State. Several States had been 
admitted with slavery, and of the eight since the 
adoption of the Constitution, the balance had been 
maintained. The North felt that too much tolerance 
had been given to slavery by the general Government 
in its acts organizing the State of Louisiana, and the 
Southwestern and Mississippi territories, and the 
South argued that the admission of Missouri with the 
stipulation that she should be a free State, would con- 
travene the Constitution, which left the State itself 



THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 



425 




to determine the 
question. On the 
other hand, it was 
held that the State 
was not yet formed, 
and that the govern- 
ment had the ac- 
knowledged right to 
control slavery in 
the territories. 

The excitement 
grew. Jefferson be- 
lieved, with others, 
that the Missouri 
question was " the 
knell of the Union," 
and said that like a 
" fire bell in the 
night," it awakened 
him and filled him 
with terror. He 
thought that no 
such momentous 
question had arisen 
in the country since 
the clay of Bunker 
Hill. In the midst 
of the turmoil, Maine 
applied for admis- 
sion, and the Sen- 
ate united the cases 
of the two States BUNKER HILL M0NUMENT ' 

in one bill, providing no restrictions on slavery. A 




ittefi" 




426 THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

conference committee effected the " compromise," 
by providing for the admission of Missouri without 
restrictions, but prohibiting slavery thereafter north 
of thirty-six thirty north latitude.* The question 
immediately arose whether the restriction related to 
"Territories" or "States," and there appear to have 
been those who voted for the bill who held different 
views of its interpretation on this vital point. Maine 
was admitted at the same time. While the discus- 
sion was progressing in the Senate, one of the South- 
ern members " was going round to all the free- 
State members and proposing to them to call a con- 
vention of the States to dissolve the Union, and agree 
upon the terms of separation and the mode of dispos- 
ing of the public debt and of the lands, and make other 
necessary arrangements of disunion." Thus does the 
demon of disunion reappear from time to time in the 
history of the country. 

At the close of his administration, Monroe, one of 
the purest and most self-sacrificing of all our Presi- 
dents, fell into insignificance and poverty. His 
successor eulogized him as being " of a mind anxious 
and unwearied in the pursuit of truth and right, 
patient of injury, patient of contradiction, courteous 
even in the collision of sentiment, sound in its 
ultimate judgments, and firm in its final conclu- 
sions." 

His biographer says : "The one idea he represents 
consistently from the beginning to the end of his 

* Henry Clay was the constant and consistent supporter of the com- 
promise. He wrote that the subject engrossed the whole thoughts of the 
members and constituted almost the only topic of conversation. With- 
out the help of the genius of Clay, it could hardly have been passed 
through Congress. 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 427 

career is this, that America is for Americans. He 
resists the British sovereignty in his early youth ; he 
insists on the importance of free navigation in the 
Mississippi ; he nogotiates the purchase of Louisiana 
and Florida; he gives a vigorous impulse to the prose- 
cution of the second war with Great Britain, when 
neutral rights were endangered ; finally he announces 
the Monroe doctrine." * 

There were three candidates for President Monroe's 
place, in his own Cabinet, besides Clay and Jackson 
outside of it. The differences about the tariff divided 
the North and South and added to the confusion 
caused by the strife of the candidates. The election 
resulted in the choice, by the House of Represent- 
atives, February 9, 1825, of John Ouincy Adams of 
Massachusetts, as President, and John C. Calhoun of 
South Carolina, as Vice-President, and they entered 
office March 4th. f 

The election of Mr. Adams by the House was 
owing to the influence of Henry Clay, and when the 
President made Clay Secretary of State, an oppor- 
tunity was afforded for a cry of "bargain and cor- 
ruption," and Adams was opposed with the most 
vindictive bitterness, which increased towards the end 

* Gilman's " Monroe," p. 214. 

t John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, was born at Braintree, 
Mass., in July, 1767, and died at Washington, February 21, 1S48. He was 
thoroughly educated abroad, and grew in mental brilliancy and strength 
up to the time of his death, earning the sobriquet " Old Man Eloquent," 
applied by Milton to Socrates. After his foreign travel and study, he 
graduated at Harvard College, in 17S8 He occupied many posts of 
public trust, both at home, in Massachusetts, at Washington, and 
abroad. After his term as President, he was a member of the House 
of Representatives for seventeen years. 



428 THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

of his term of office, until he was opposed by a 
majority in both branches of the Legislature. The 
campaign for the next Presidential election was begun 
in October, of the same year, by the Legisla- 
ture of Tennessee, which nominated Jackson, and the 
whole of the term of Adams was a period of restless 
strife between opposing factions. The question at 
stake was not, "Was Adams successful in directing 
the government ?" "Was he honest and capable?" 
but, "Was he popular with the people?" He^had 
the reputation of being cold and unapproachable, and 
while no one doubted his sincerity, the popular heart 
was not stirred by any personal feeling for him. 
Jackson, on the contrary, held his followers strongly 
to him. 

Though Mr. Adams declined to make use of the 
influence of government in his favor in 1828, when 
the nomination of his successor was to be made, 
he did attempt to gain support by a letter to 
the electors of Virginia, but it was unavailing, and 
Jackson, who had received the larger number of 
electoral votes at the previous election, was chosen in 
his place. 

President Adams had used his influence success- 
fully in the development of the country, holding 
opposite views in this respect to Monroe, who had 
vetoed the bill for the construction of the Great Cum- 
berland Road,* and following out the policy of Jeffer- 
son's administration, as exhibited in the recommenda- 
tions of his Secretary of the Treasury, Albert 
Gallatin, in 1807. Another phase of the administra- 

* An epitome of the arguments of President Monroe on this subject 
may be found in Gilman's " Monroe," pp. 239, 248. 



THE VICTORS AND THE SPOILS. 429 

tion of Adams is seen in the " Panama Mission," as it 
is called. 

During the previous administration, the Spanish 
States of South America had proposed a conven- 
tion of delegates, with a view to carrying out 
the " Monroe Doctrine," as those States conceived 
it. Mr. Adams urged Congress to appoint commis- 
sioners, and, after an exciting debate, two persons 
nominated by the President, were confirmed, March 
14, 1826. The Congress met June 22, but the 
United States was not represented, owing to the 
death of one of the commissioners, and delay on the 
part of the other. The next year the two commis- 
sioners proceeded to attend an adjourned meeting, but 
the other members of the Congress did not appear, 
and the hopes that had been cherished by some of 
seeing the United States at the head of a Federation 
of American Republics, failed to be realized. A 
marked feature in the administration of President 
Adams, was the adoption of the " American system," 
or protection to industry by levying a tariff on im- 
portations, which was done in 1828. 

The principle of " rotation in office," adopted by 
Jefferson, and at a later date expressed by Governor 
Marcy, of New York, in the words, " To the victors 
belong the spoils," became very prominent in the 
administration of Jackson.* He entered office deter- 
mined to reward his friends. Washington had made 
nine changes in the office-holders during his adminis- 
trations ; Adams had made no more ; Jefferson put 
out thirty-nine persons ; Madison, five ; Monroe, nine ; 

*This principle is now expressed, "The government belongs to its 
friends." 



430 



THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 



John Quincy Adams, two ; and it is estimated that 
Jackson put out two thousand federal office-holders to 
make room for his political friends. These figures 
show that though Jefferson may be said to have estab- 
lished the principle of rotation, it was Jackson who 
actually reduced it to practice on a grand scale. 




A POST STATION ON THE PRAIRIES. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



NULLIFICATION. 



■TREATY OF WASHINGTON. ANNEX- 
ATION OF TEXAS. 



THE period from 1830 to 
1845 i s marked by the 
discussions regarding the 
tariff, which resulted in 
nullification in South Car- 
olina by the treaty of 
Washington which set- 
tled important questions 
between the United 
States and Great Britain, 
by severe financial disas- 
ters, by successful for- 
eign diplomacy, and by 
the annexation of Texas, 
which was to bring about 
the war with Mexico. It 
carries us from the open- 
ing of the administration 
of Jackson to the close of that of Tyler. 

The Protective Tariff had before this time caused 
an antagonism between the Northern and Southern 
States, but the tariff of 1828 was especially offensive 
to the South, and Jackson in his first message sug- 

431 




WKBSTEK AT MARSHFIELD. 



432 NULLIFICATION. 

gested a modification of the duties it levied. A few 
slight changes were made in the spring of 1830, but 
the concession did not bring concord. The South 
attributed to the tariff troubles that resulted from the 
sale of public lands to emigrants and depreciated the 
value of estates in the older communities. 

At the close of 1829, Senator Samuel A. Foote of 
Connecticut, brought forward a resolution inquiring 
into the expediency of suspending for a time the sale 
of public lands, and it brought up the vexed question 
of the relative rights of the general government and 
the States. It was on this occasion that the notable 
debate occurred between Daniel Webster and Senator 
Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, in which Hayne 
declared that the general government, being a creature 
of the States, the States retained the right to "nul- 
lify" any act of Congress that they deemed unconsti- 
tutional, and Webster planting himself firmly on the 
theory that the Constitution was adopted by the 
people as a whole, acording to its tenor — for it 
begins with the words, " We, the people of the United 
States, in order to form a more perfect Union" — 
argued that the general government is, within its 
sphere, independent of all local institutions, and that 
no State has the right to nullifiy any act of Congress. 
He argued that the United States was a nation, the 
government of which was the independent offspring 
of the popular will, " made for the people, made by 
the people, and answerable to the people." 

The close of the first term of Jackson was approach- 
ing, and the time for the choice of his successor ar- 
rived, in November, 1832. The result of the election 
was the reelection of Jackson, who received the votes 



-^5, ..... . ... 




SOUTH CAROLINA ACTS. 435 

of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, 
' Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, 
Illinois, Alabama and Missouri.* Henry Clay received 
the votes of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connec- 
ticut, Delaware, Maryland and Kentucky. Vermont 
voted for Mr. Wirt, and South Carolina for John 
Floyd of Virginia, or President, and Henry Lee of 
Massachusetts, for Vice-President. 

South Carolina under the guidance of John C. 
Calhoun, now acted upon the principles which, it 
claimed, were laid down f in the acts of Kentucky and 
Virginia, passed in 1798, under the direction of Jeffer- 
son and Madison, and called a convention, which 
assembled November 19, 1832, and passed, November 
24, an ordinance declaring that the acts of Congress 
imposing duties on importations, were unauthorized 
by the Constitution, and therefore "null and void, and 
no law, nor binding on the State of South Carolina, 
its officers and citizens," f and that the Legislature 
should adopt measures to arrest the operation of such 
acts within the State. The people with a manliness 
that must be admired,- staked their all on the support 

*The nomination for President and Vice-President were now first 
made by National Conventions. The Anti-Masons nominated William 
Wirt and Amos Ellmaker, in September, 1831 ; in December, the 
National Republicans nominated Henry Clay and John Sergeant ; and 
in March, 1832, the Democrats nominated Martin Van Buren as Vice- 
President, Andrew Jackson having been nominated as President in 
February, 1830, by his friends in the Legislature of New York. Candi- 
dates had generally been nominated by Congressional caucuses. 

t See page 372. 

t Writing in 1833, Jackson said : " The tariff was only a pretext [for 
nullification], and disunion, and a Southern Confederacy the real 
object. The next pretext will be the negro or slavery question." 



436 NULLIFIC. ! TION. 

of their principles, and the Legislature provided for 
calling out the military to protect State rights. 

President Jackson found here such a juncture as he 
delighted in. He issued a proclamation declaring that 
he should " take care that the laws be faithfully exe- 
cuted," that " the Union must and shall be preserved," 
and warning the people of South Carolina that their 
course was " one of ruin and disgrace to the very State 
whose right they affect to support." A few weeks 
later, January 16, 1833, he issued a message to Con- 
gress in which he showed the reasons on which he 
based his opposition to nullification and secession, and 
drew a picture of the dire results which would follow 
them. He asked them if they could say, " This happy 
Union we will dissolve ; this picture of peace and 
prosperity we will deface ; this free intercourse wc 
will interrupt ; these fertile fields we will deluge with 
blood ; the protection of that glorious flag we renounce ; 
the very name of American we discard?" He called 
General Scott, the hero of Lundy's Lane, to the Capi- 
tol, and gave him instructions to proceed to 
Charleston harbor, and to see that the laws were 
executed. Calhoun, who had 'resigned the office of 
Vice-President in order to take the place of Hayne in 
the Senate, did not wish to have the struggle go 
beyond debate, and used his great influence in favor 
of a compromise brought forward by Henry Clay, and 
adopted by the House, February 25, and by the 
Senate, March 2, 1833. South Carolina accepted the 
situation. She had not been supported by the other 
States. North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, 
Tennessee, Delaware, Indiana, Massachusetts, Connec- 
ticut and New York condemned nullification, though 



THE UNITED STATES BANK. 437 

some of them pronounced the tariff unconstitutional 
and not expedient. Virginia appeared as mediator 
and sent a special messenger, Benjamin Watkins 
Leigh, with conciliatory resolutions to South Carolina. 
The trouble was temporarily settled, South Caro- 
lina rescinded its nullification resolutions, but no 
principle was laid down for the decision of future 
difficulties. 

During the administration of President Jackson, 
the Whig party received its name, and at about the 
same time the Democrats were first called "Locofocos," 
from the fact that in 1835, during an excited meeting 
of the party in Tammany Hall, New York, when the 
candles had been blown out to increase the confusion, 
they were lighted with matches then called " loco- 
focos." * 

The United States Bank, the charter of which was 
to expire in 1836, encountered the opposition of 
President Jackson from the beginning of his adminis- 
tration. In 1832, the bank applied to Congress for a 
renewal of its charter, and it was granted ; but Jackson 
interposed his veto, and there was not a two thirds 
majority in the Senate in its favor. The President 
then determined to remove the deposits and give 
them to the State banks. Congress refused to sup- 
port him in his determination, but he resolved to do 
it, nevertheless, on his own responsibility. He 
encountered a new obstacle, for the secretary of the 
Treasury, Louis McLane, could not be prevailed upon 

* Friction matches were new, having been invented in 1829, and intro- 
duced by Faraday. Thev were at first ignited by being rubbed 
between folds of sandpaper, and were noisy and dangerous; but in 
1834, phosphorus was utilized instead of the chemicals previously used. 



438 NULLIFICATION. 

to carry out his wish. William J. Duane, who was 
put into his place, also refused to effect the transfer.* 
Duane was accordingly removed in turn, and Roger 
B. Taney was put in his place. (Taney was never con- 
firmed.) The Treasury deposits, amounting to 
$9,800,000.00, were then, October, 1833, distributed 
among (89) "pet banks," in the different States, and 
these loaned them on easy terms, facilitating specula- 
tion to a great extent. At the same time the United 
States Bank and those others that were not favored 
with a portion of the Government funds, were forced 
to curtail their transactions, and commercial distress 
ensued, f 

While this was the case, the government was accu- 
mulating a surplus of funds which, by 1835, not onr y 
enabled it to pay off its entire debt, but left a balance 
which to the extent of more than thirty million was 
in January, 1837, distributed to the several State 
governments, to be used as each deemed best. In 
some cases this sum was divided among the citi- 
zens, but in others it was used to promote education, 
increase the area of cotton production, or the improve- 
ments of roads. Before the distribution had been 

* John C. Calhoun said of the removal of the deposits, "The whole 
power of the government was perverted into a great political machine, 
with a view of corrupting and controlling the country." " The avowed 
and open policy of the government is to reward political friends and 
punish political enemies. ' With money we will get partisans, with 
partisans votes, and with votes money,' is the maxim of our public 
pilferers." 

t The President's action in this matter led to the passage, by the 
Senate, of a vote of censure, which remained on the record for four 
years, when it was erased, under the " Expunging Resolution," on 
motion of Colonel Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, March 28, 1837, 
in opposition to the earnest protest of Daniel Webster and others. 



MARTIN VAN BUREN PRESIDENT. 439 

completed, the administration was confronted by the 
prospect of a deficit. The State banks added to the 
financial difficulties by increasing their issue of paper 
money, and this alarmed the government, leading the 
President to issue his "specie circular," directing 
that specie only should be received in payment for 
public lands. This order was followed by the sus- 
pension of many banks. In the midst of these 
financial complications, Martin Van Buren, who had 
been chosen to succeed Jackson on the expiration 
of his second term, took the head of government. 
The new President was a member of the Democratic 
party, and had been in active public life for over a 
quarter of a century. He had been chosen to the 
Senate of New York, his native State, before arriving 
at the age of thirty, and had been the leader of his 
party for many years. Twice he had been elected 
to the United States Senate, once to the office of 
Governor of New York, and he had been Secretary 
of State during the first term of Jackson, and was 
by him appointed Minister to England, an office 
which, owing to the adverse influence of Clay, 
Webster and Calhoun, he had not been confirmed in. 
It was the fortune of Van Buren to reap the 
consequences of the acts of his predecessors, for 
within two months after he took the oath of office, 
the banks of New York suspended specie payment, 
and were followed by those of other commercial 
cities. Within six months, the real estate of New 
York had depreciated more than forty millions of 
dollars, merchandise had fallen more than thirty per 
cent., and thousands of day laborers had lost their 
employment, in the city alone. In May the mer 



440 NULLIFICATION. 

chants called upon the President to convene Con- 
gress, and it was brought together in September, 
1837. Mr. Van Buren laid the blame of the state 
of affairs upon the spirit of reckless speculation 
in which the people had indulged, and on luxurious 
habits based upon accumulations that were not real. 
He did not propose any method to relieve the 
embarrassments, but suggested the establishment of 
an "independent treasury system," by which the 
funds of the government should be kept in offices 
under control of the administration in the chief 
cities. The scheme which was, and still is, called 
the " Sub-Treasury System," was not favored at first, 
and it was not until 1840 that it was adopted. Even 
then it was not countenanced much more than a year 
(the bill being repealed August, 1841), but it was 
re-established in 1846. 

The financial crash affected not only individuals, 
but States, many of which had borrowed largely. 
Some paid the interest due their creditors in certifi- 
cates of indebtedness, others made no payments at all ; 
a few utterly repudiated their obligations, and when, 
in 1842, an effort was made to negotiate a govern- 
ment loan in Europe, no offer was obtained for it. 
The banks had, however, generally resumed specie 
payments in 1838, though trade still languished. 
The entire period of the administration of Van Buren 
was occupied with legislation to remedy the financial 
evils, and so strong was party feeling, that all the 
troubles of the country were laid at the door of the 
unfortunate President. 

The time for the choice of his successor arrived, 
1840, and the election resulted in the overthrow of 



THE HARD CIDER CAMPAIGN. 



441 



the Democratic party and the defeat of Van Buren. 
General William Henry Harrison was chosen Presi- 
dent, and John Tyler of Virginia, Vice-President. 
Harrison was a native of Virginia; a graduate of 
Hampden-Sidney College, and had been an Indian 
fighter, and afterwards Governor of the Indiana 
Territory. He had been, as we have seen, victor 
over the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, at the battle of 
Tippecanoe, in 1811, and over the British General 
Proctor, at the battle of the River Thames, October 




fihst irousK rcii/i at Chicago. 



5, 18 1 3, and was esteemed for his upright character. 
An opposition newspaper gave the rallying cry to 
his supporters by saying that if he were given a 
pension and a barrel of hard cider, he would sit in 
his cabin contented for life. The Westerners, who 
knew Harrison, instead of resenting the sneer aimed 
at all who lived in log cabins, took the words as their 
party cry, and the country rang with the words "log 
cabin," "hard cider," and "Tippecanoe and Tyler 



442 NULLIFICATION. 

too." Against the enthusiasm excited for Harrison, 
the supporters of Van Buren, who was nominated for 
re-election, were able to make but feeble resistance 
in the face of the record of disaster that marked his 
administration. Harrison received almost three votes 
to one of Van Buren's in the Electoral College. 

The cares of public duty, and the change in the 
mode of his life, caused the death of Harrison just 
one month after his accession to office, and John 
Tyler of Virginia, who had been chosen Vice-Pres- 
ident with him, took up his duties. The new Presi- 
dent, who was a Whig, soon turned his back upon the 
favorite measure of his party, the re-chartering of the 
United States Bank, following in this the principles 
adopted by President Jackson. The Independent 
Treasury Bill was repealed, as has been said, in 1841, 
to be re-enacted five years later. A general bankrupt 
law was passed, that gave the insolvent relief from 
their debts. The National Bank charter had expired 
in 1836, but under the laws of Pennsylvania, in which 
State the bank was situated, it had continued to oper- 
ate. Congress, trusting the assurances of the Presi- 
dent that he would approve a constitutional measure 
for financial relief, passed an act chartering the bank 
anew. This the President vetoed. It was modified 
and again passed, only to encounter another veto. 
The members of the Cabinet resigned, excepting 
Webster, who was at the moment negotiating a treaty 
with Great Britain, asserting that the President had 
asked them to support such a bill as the one vetoed. 

Daniel Webster as Secretary of State, had proposed 
to the British Minister that the dispute regarding the 
boundary between the United States and Canada 



THE TREATY <)E WASHINGTON. 



448 



should be adjusted, and Lord Ashburton was sent by 
England as special envoy to negotiate upon that sub- 
ject and others that still remained unsettled between the 
nations* The sessions of the conference opened in 
April, 1842, and four months later the Senate ratified 
" the Treaty of Washington," which settled almost 
every dispute with England. It established the 




PRESIDENT HARRISON'S GRAVPJ, NORTH BEND, OHIO. 



boundaries on the countries on the northeast, gave 
pledges that the slave trade should be put down, 

*The northern boundary of the country from Michigan to Alaska 
is marked by stone cairns, iron pillars, wood pillars, earth 
mounds and timber posts A stone cairn is seven and 
a half feet by eight feet ; an earth mound seven feet by fourteen 
feet ; an iron pillar seven feet high, eight inches square at the bottom, 
and four inches at the top : timber posts five feet high and eight inches 
square. There are three hundred and eightv-five of these marks 
between the Lake of the Woods and the base of the Rocky Mountains. 
That portion of the boundary which lies east and west of the Red 
River Valley is marked by cast iron pillars at even mile intervals. 
The British place one every two miles, and the United States one 
between each British post. 



444 NULLIFICATION. 

provided for the rendition of fugitives from justice, 
put an end to the claims of the right search of vessels, 
and impressment of seamen, it being agreed in 
accordance with the principle originally enunciated 
by Jefferson, and repeated by Webster in his letter of 
August 8th, to Lord Ashburton, that the flag of 
a vessel should be evidence of the nationality of its 
seamen. So favorable did the people of England 
consider the treaty to America, that they called it the 
" Ashburton Capitulation ; " but as it was thought in 
the United States to concede too much to England, it 
may be assumed to be pretty fair in its settlement of the 
disputed points. Mr. Webster considered this treaty 
of the greatest importance, and undoubtedly it gave 
the United States its proper position as one of the 
foremost powers of the world.* 

The other important event of the period before us 
relates to the annexation of Texas. The boundary 
between Mexico and Louisiana had been uncertain 
until the treaty that had ceded Florida to the United 
States, in 1 82 1, when Texas was acknowledged to belong 
to Spain, and became immediately a portion of Mex- 
ico. Up to that time it had been the policy of Mexico 
to keep Americans out of it, but in 1820, one Moses 
Austin of Connecticut, obtained a grant of land in the 
State, and in 1822, his son, Stephen F. Austin of 
Missouri, took a body of colonists to settle there. 
From 1 80 1, when Philip Nolan of Kentucky, relying 
on a Spanish license, had ventured into Texas only to 
be treacherously murdered by Spanish forces, there 
had been occasional expeditions from the United 

* See Webster's speech in vindication of the Treaty delivered in the 
Senate, April 6 and 7, 1846. 



TEXAS AND MEXICO. 445 

States, but all adventurers had been killed, imprisoned 
or driven off. Finally the settlement of the territory 
had actually been begun by Americans. In 1835, 
General Sam Houston went from Tennessee to Texas, 
and March 2, 1836, the State declared itself inde- 
pendent. Two years before, under the lead of 
Austin, permission had been asked of Mexico to join 
that Republic as a State, but it had been refused and 
Austin had been imprisoned. 

In 1835, Mexico had sent a force to disarm the 
people and arrest the officers of its government. The 
first encounter occurred September 28, the Mexicans 
being defeated. On the sixth of the following March, 
1836, a small garrison, in a fort called the L' Alamo, 
was overpowered by the Mexicans under Santa Anna, 
and relentlessly butchered, the noted Davy Crockett 
of Tennessee, losing his life at the time. On the 
twenty-first of April, the struggle closed with the 
battle of San Jacinto, at which Houston took Santa 
Anna prisoner and achieved the independence of 
Texas. Calhoun urged annexation as soon as the 
news of the battle of San Jacinto reached the 
United States, but Clay and Jackson counselled cau- 
tion, though one of the last acts of the President 
was to acknowledge the independence of the State, 
and appoint an agent to visit it. 

In his inaugural address, President Houston 
expressed the desire of the people — many of whom 
had come from the United States — to be annexed 
to it, and an offer was made the first year of the 
administration of Van Buren, who declined it, fearing 
that it would involve the country in a war with 
Mexico. In 1838, propositions were introduced in 



446 NULLIFICATION. 

the Senate favoring annexation, but they were 
rejected. Meanwhile the country was discussing 
the proposition North and South. The South wished 
to receive Texas, as opening a large area for the 
extension of slavery, and the North opposed it on 
the same ground. A compromise was finally affected, 
the line of slavery being drawn as in the Missouri 
Compromise Bill, at thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes 
and annexation was sustained by Congress, March, 
1845. Texas assented to the terms July 4th, and be- 
came one of the United States December 29, 1845. 
The results of this action will be noticed in another 
chapter. 

Two Indian wars occurred in this period. The 
Sacs and Foxes refused to remove from the lands 
that they had by treaty, in 1830, conveyed to the 
United States, and the militia were sent by the 
Governor of Illinois to force them beyond the 
Mississippi. Joined by the Winnebagoes and led 
by Black Hawk, Keokuk and other chiefs, the 
Indians refused to be removed, and in March, 1832, 
they penetrated the region occupied by the whites, 
and burned their dwellings, murdering their occu- 
pants. A force under General Scott was sent from 
Buffalo to stop the ravages, and Governor Reynolds 
of Illinois, called for volunteers. Abraham Lincoln 
was one of those who promptly responded to this 
call. He was chosen captain of his company. The 
war proved so brief that he was not brought into 
actual conflict. The Indians were finally overtaken 
and defeated near Bad Axe River, when they were 
attempting to cross the Mississippi. Their chiefs 
were taken to Washington, in order that they might 



INDIAN WARS. 



447 



be impressed by the wealth and power of their 
captors. On their return they advised their people 
,to lay down their arms, and the removal was then 
accomplished. 

A much more serious affair was the Seminole War 




THE MORMON TEMPLE, SALT LAKE CITY. 

in Florida and the adjacent States. There had been 
a "Seminole War" in 1817, when serious depreda- 
tions had been committed upon the inhabitants of 
Georgia, but it had been repressed in 18 18 by the 
vigorous measures of Jackson, who invaded Florida, 
though the territory then belonged to Spain, captur- 
ing two forts and executing two British prisoners 



448 NULLIFICATION. 

whom he thought guilty of aiding the Indians. This 
almost involved the United States in war with Spain, 
but finally the territory was sold to the United 
States in 1819, for five million of dollars. 

In the winter of 1835, the Seminoles began to 
resist the measures taken to remove them west of the 
Mississippi. Their chief, Osceola, whose wife had 
been taken from him, as being the daughter of an 
escaped slave, had a personal desire for vengeance, 
and though pretending to consent to the removal, 
cherished designs of direst vengeance. The Creeks, 
from whom the Seminoles had separated many years 
before, soon united with them in a terrible war 
against the Whites. Generals Gaines, Scott, Jesup, 
Taylor and others were sent to fight the savages, but 
the war lingered year after year, until, in 1842, Gen- 
eral Worth brought the Indians to terms. The war 
had cost thirty million and many lives. 

The peace between England and the United States 
was threatened in 1837, by the breaking out of a rebel- 
lion against England, in which some of the citizens 
of the United States joined. The insurgents seized 
an island in the Niagara River and fortified it, 
sending stores thither in a steamer, which, however, 
was captured by the Canadian authorities and set 
adrift over the falls, after having been set on fire. 
President Van Buren issued a proclamation of neu- 
trality, and sent General Wool to the scene of action, 
who obliged the adventurers to surrender, and thus 
restored order. 

The Mormons came into existence as a sect in 
1830, at Manchester, N. Y. Within two years they 
had grown to twelve hundred in number, under the 



THE MORMONS. 449 

lead of Joseph Smith. They moved westward, but 
were not permanently located for many years. In 
1838, the citizens of Ohio expelled them from that 
State; in 1839, they were forced from Missouri by 
military power, and they built their temple at 
Nauvoo, 111., in 1840. There they were charged 
with crimes, and Smith was thrown in prison for 




HOUSE OF THE LATE BRIO HAM YOUNG, SALT LAKE CITY. 

having led a mob in the destruction of a press on 
which a paper was printed that opposed his teach- 
ings. 

A mob finally took Smith's life, and so violent 
did the opposition to them become, that they were 
forced to sell their property and remove, under a new 
leader, Brigham Young. They found a resting-place 



450 NULLIFICATION. 

beyond the Rocky Mountains, in the valley of Salt 
Lake, which they named Deseret, the Land of the 
honey bee. 

During this period treaties were made with Den- 
mark, 1830; Spain and Portugal, 1832-34; Naples, 
1834; France, 1836; and China, 1843, and the for- 
eign relations of the nation had been remarkably 
fortunate. 

Five States were added to the Union; Arkansas 
in 1836, Michigan in 1837, Florida in 1845, Iowa 
the same year, and arrangements were concluded 
that brought Texas into the Union also. 

An insurrection broke out in Rhode Island in 
1842, known as the Dorr Rebellion. The State was 
still governed under the charter granted in 1663, 
and the system by which its affairs were managed 
had become antiquated and ill suited to the wants 
of the people. Only those could vote who were 
possessed of an estate of the annual value of seven 
dollars, and the representation, on account of the 
changes in population, had become unequal. In 
1824 and 1834, Constitutions had been proposed and 
rejected, and by 1840 a "suffrage association" had 
spread throughout the State, the object of which 
was to organize a new Constitution. The means 
were illegal, though the object was desirable. A 
convention was held in October, 1841, and a Con- 
stitution adopted that should organize the government 
on principles in sympathy with those that obtained 
in the other States. 

Another Constitution was formed by a convention 
called in accordance with the forms of law, by the 
Legislature, and when it was presented to the people 



THE DORR REBELLION. 451 

it was rejected, in March, 1842. The " People's 
Constitution," as the other was called, had been 
adopted by a vote that was afterwards proven fraud- 
ulent, but there was now a direct opposition between 
the laws under the charter and those of the faction 
that had adopted the Constitution. Under the Con- 
stitution Thomas W. Dorr was chosen Governor, and 
a government organized at Providence, the legal 
capital being at Newport. President Tyler sent 
troops to sustain the legal government, and when 
Dorr took the field with an armed force, his followers 
mostly left him. Volunteers went against Dorr, and 
the war ended June 27th. A new Constitution was 
legally adopted a few months later, which went into 
operation in May, 1843. Dorr was tried for treason, 
convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment for life ; 
but after three years he was released, and in 1851 
fully pardoned and restored to his privileges as a 
citizen. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



WAR WITH MEXICO. 



THE choice of President in 1844 turned upon the 
Texas question, and as the vote resulted in the 
election of James K. Polk of Tennessee, who favored 
annexation, that measure continued to be pressed, as 
we have seen that it had been at the close of the 
term of President Tyler. The consequences were left 
to the new President. Polk was of North Caro- 
lina descent, one of his ancestors having been a 
promoter of the " Mecklenburg Resolutions" of 1775. 
But his family removed to Tennessee in 1806, and he 
was educated at the University of Nashville. Enter- 
ing the practice of law, he soon found himself in a 
political career, and was chosen a member of the 
State Legislature. Subsequently he was for fifteen 
years a member of Congress, where he was known as 
an opponent of the measures of the administration of 
the younger Adams, and afterwards as a supporter of 
President Jackson. He was a man of good abilities, 
and of irreproachable private life. He felt the impor- 
tance of the crisis at which he entered office, and said 
in his inaugural address, " Well may the boldest fear, 
and the wisest tremble, when incurring responsibilities 
on which may depend our country's peace and pros- 
perity, and in some degree the hopes and happiness 

452 



POL 7T S A DMINISTEA TION. 



453 



of the whole human family." After the struggle with 
Mexico was over, he was able to add, doubtless with 
pride, " the acquisition of California and New Mexico, 
the settlement of the Oregon boundary, and the annex- 
ation of Texas, extending to the Rio Grande, are 
results which, combined, are of greater consequence, 




JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



and will add more to the strength and wealth of the 
nation than any which have preceded them since the 
adoption of the Constitution." 

At the beginning of Polk's administration the 
boundary between Canada and the United States near 



454 WAR WITH ME A' WO. 

the Pacific Ocean, was unsettled, and at the moment 
was threatening to bring about war. The United 
States had long laid claim to the territory in the 
Oregon region, on the Pacific, as far as fifty-four 
degrees and forty minutes, and one of the war cries of 
the Polk campaign had been " fifty-four forty or fight ! " 
The English government had insisted, on the contrary, 
that the northern line of the United States did not 
extend beyond the forty-ninth degree. The American 
claim was based on the explorations of Captain Robert 
Gray of Boston, who had entered a river flowing into 
the ocean, and named it after his vessel, "Columbia," 
May nth, 1792; upon the purchase of Louisiana, in 
1803, by which all the rights of Spain to the western 
shores were conveyed ; and upon the explorations of 
Lewis and Clarke soon after that time, by whom the 
river Columbia had been descended to its mouth. 
During the administration of Monroe, the United 
States had proposed a settlement of the dispute, and 
again in the time of Tyler, and by 1844, the interest 
in the subject had risen to a remarkable height, and 
there were those who said that they would rather 
make the territory the grave of their fellow-citizens 
and color its soil with their blood, than surrender one 
inch of it. In his inaugural address, President Polk 
had stated that he considered our title to the disputed 
territory " clear and unquestionable ; " the region had 
been held by joint occupancy, under agreements rnade 
in 1 818 and 1827, but the number of Americans who 
had settled there had become so considerable that a 
decision of the ownership of the soil was imperative. 
During the discussion of the question, the prospect of 
war with Mexico became more evident, and the United 



TEXAS AX J) COAIIUILA. 



455 



States entered into a treaty by which the claims of 
the British were recognized, and the forty-ninth degree 
was made our northern boundary. 

War with Mexico was brought on by a dispute 
about the boundary of the State of Texas. The Mex- 




HAL I'll WALDO EMKKSON. 



ican people on becoming independent of Spain in 
1 82 1, had united under one government the Provinces 
of Texas and Coahuila, of which the river Rio Grande 
was the western boundary. When Texas, on the 
other hand, had, in 1836, obtained her independence 



456 war With Mexico. 

of Mexico, she claimed that the Province of Coahuila 
became a part of the Republic, and this, the Legisla- 
ture of the United Provinces put into the form of a 
resolution, December 19, 1836. Accordingly when 
Texas became a part of our Union, it was claimed 
that her western boundary was the Rio Grande, and 
not the Nueces, which was the boundary of the 
Province of Texas before her union with Coahuila by 
the Republic of Mexico. It was this Territory be- 
tween the rivers that was in dispute. 

As soon as Texas became a part of the United 
States she called for protection against Mexico, and 
General Taylor was sent from Western Louisiana with 
an " Army of Occupation," to advance as near the Rio 
Grande as he could. He established his camp at first 
on the Nueces, in November, 1845 > DUt m January, 
1846, he received orders to advance to the Rio Grande, 
and March 28th, he took a post on the east side 
of the river," opposite Metamoras. A month later, 
the Mexican General Arista informed Taylor that his 
government was forced into a war that it could not 
avoid without being unfaithful to that which is 
most sacred to men, and at the same time threw a 
body of his troops over the river and attacked a com- 
pany of American dragoons, compelling them to 
surrender after losing sixteen men. * When news of 
this event reached Washington, the President sent 
his message to Congress, informing them that war ex- 

* When the President insisted in his messages that the blood of our 
citizens had been spilt on "our own territory," Abraham Lincoln 
introduced into Congress the celebrated " Spot " resolutions, in which 
he called upon the President to indicate the exact " spot " where this 
had been done, and to inform the House whether the " citizens " had not 
been " aimed soldiers " sent there by the military orders of the President. 



GENERAL ZACIJARY TAYLOR. 457 

isted by the act of Mexico, for the blood had been 
spilt on territory claimed by Texas and the United 
States. War was formally declared May 13th, and 
Mexico made the same declaration May 23d, neither 
country being aware, of course, of the action of the 
other. It seems probable that Mexico ventured into 
war under the impression that the impending diffi- 
culties with England would employ much of the 
attention of our country, and that the great opposi- 
tion to the war by many in the United States * would 
make the conduct of the campaign uncertain. It has 
been suggested, too, that the United States may. on 
the same grounds, be pardoned for its want of chiv- 
alry in attacking so mean a foe. 

The first fighting naturally fell to General Taylor. 
While he was establishing a base of supplies on the 
Gulf, the Mexicans attacked his position on the Rio 
Grande. Returning to the assistance of his troops, 
Taylor encountered and defeated the Mexicans at 
Palo Alto, May 8, and at Resaca de la Palma, the next 
day. Reaching his position, afterwards called Fort 
Brown, from its gallant defender during the absence 
of Taylor, he found that it had sustained a severe 
bombardment with great loss of life, Major Brown 
himself having been killed May 3. General Taylor fol- 
lowed the Mexicans, who had crossed the river and 
retreated some distance into the country, and occupied 
Metamoras, where he awaited orders. 

Fortified by votes of Congress and by a violent war 
spirit that resulted from the reports and from meas- 

*Ef it ain't jest the thing that's well-pleasin' to God, 
It makes us thought highly on elsewhere abroad. 

Lowell's Biglow Papers. 



458 



WAS. WITH MEXICO. 




ures taken to instigate it at " war meetings," 
held throughout the country, the President 
called for volunteers, and nearly three thou- 
sand men offered to go on the grand ven- 
ture. The plan was prepared by 
Gen. Scott. Congress voted ten 
million dollars for the war. Scott 
formed three armies : under Taylor 
being called the army of occupa- 
tion ; a second under Gen. Philip W. 

ft 



THE HOME OF EMERSON, CONCORD, MASS. 

Kearney, was the army of the West ; and the "army 
of the centre" was to be under his personal direction. 
Kearney's duty was to conquer New Mexico and Cal- 
ifornia, and raising a body of less than two thousand 
men, he set out for Santa Fe, which he took, August 
1 8, 1847, and received the submission of New Mexico. 
Thence he proposed to go to the Pacific, but after 



FREMONT IN CALIFORNIA. 159 

having started, he was met by the intelligence that 
California had been secured, which was true. Captain 
John C. Fremont * had for some years been engaged 
in exploring the Pacific coast, and before hostilities 
had actually been declared, he had been put on the 
alert by letters from James Buchanan, then Secretary 
of State, and Colonel Benton, his father-in-law, and 
had entered upon a campaign to overthrow Mexican 
authority in California. On the fourth of July, 1846, 
having in June captured Sonoma, near San Francisco, 
he caused the inhabitants to declare their independence 
of Mexico, and with the aid of Commodore Sloat, who 
had taken Monterey and entered the Bay of San 
Francisco, he took Los Angeles and became master 
of Upper California. This place was retaken by the 
Mexicans, and again possessed by Fremont, in Janu- 
ary, 1847. In the meantime General Kearney had 
reached California and was able to take part in the 
skirmishes which resulted in the occupation of both 
Upper and Lower California. Commodore Stockton 
and Commodore Shubrick had also given aid in vari- 
ous battles. 

General Scott's plan was to take Vera Cruz and 

*John Charles Fremont was born in Savannah, Ga., of French 
parentage. He began active life as professor of mathematics in the 
navy, but soon gave up his position and became an explorer. After 
becoming acquainted with the upper portion of the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi and the valley of the Des Moines, he formed the project of 
exploring the Rocky Mountains and of opening a route to the Pacific. 
This great undertaking he entered upon in 1842, conducting several 
expeditions during the next few years. In 1850 he became Senator 
from California, and in 1856 he was the unsuccessful candidate for 
President against Buchanan. During the civil war, he was in active 
service in Missouri and Virginia, and in 1S78 he was appointed Gov- 
ernor of Arizona. 



460 



WAR WITH MEXICO. 



then pass on as prompt as practicable to the city of 
Mexico. He found himself opposed by Santa Anna, 
who two years before had been banished for ten years, 
but in the emergency had been recalled to protect the 
Republic. He reached Mexico in September. Tay- 
lor was the first to meet him, however, for, having 
moved towards the capital from the Rio Grande, he 




took 
Monterey on 
the twenty-first 
o f September, 
though its strong 
works were manned by 
a superior force, and San- 
ta Anna determined to 
oppose his further progress. 
The encounter occurred four 
miles south of Saltillo, to 
which place he had advanced in November, near 
an estate called Buena Vista, on the afternoon of the 
twenty-second of February, 1847. 

General Scott, upon his arrival in January, had with- 
drawn a portion of the force commanded by Taylor, 



ROME AMERICAN COTNS. 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 461 

and had left him weakened, a fact that Santa Anna 
was duly apprized of by an intercepted dispatch. The 
American forces amounted to less than one half the 
number brought against them by Santa Anna, but the 
Mexicans were repulsed at every attack, and forced 
finally to fly to the southward, leaving Taylor undis- 
turbed master of the valley of the Rio Grande. The 
battle had lasted throughout the twenty-third, and 
was a severe struggle, the Mexican loss being some 
two thousand, and that of the Americans about eight 
hundred. In November, Taylor returned to the United 
States, leaving General John E. Wool, who had been 
one of his efficient supporters at Monterey and Buena 
Vista, in command of the army of the Rio Grande. 

In July, 1846, President Polk made an overture 
of peace to Mexico, and in giving information of 
his act to Congress, suggested that a sum of money 
should be appropriated to offer to Mexico as indem- 
nity for any of her territory that might be retained 
at the close of the war. A bill was introduced 
authorizing the use of two million dollars in this 
way, and during the discussion that followed, David 
Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, a member of the admin- 
istration party, moved a "proviso," excluding slavery, 
which had been abolished in Mexico twenty years 
before, from the territory to be acquired, using the 
words of the ordinance of 1787, by which the North- 
western Territory had been organized. This was 
passed by the House, but reached the Senate too 
late in the session for action, and in the interim 
between the sessions, progress of opinion and divis- 
ion of sentiment, led to its rejection by the Senate 
and its abandonment by the House. 



462 WAR WITH MEXICO. 

Ever since the Missouri Compromise (1820) the 
discussion of slavery had been growing in intensity. 
William Lloyd Garrison * had begun the publication 
in Boston, in January, 183 1, of a paper called The 
Liberator, and many societies had been formed for 
the agitation of the subject of abolition, professing 
to rely solely upon moral and religious influences, 
and deprecating the "use of all carnal weapons." 
Riots occurred, at various times, in New York, 
Boston, Alton, Cincinnati, and other places, some 
of which were attended with loss of life and the 
destruction of property. In 1835, Jackson went so 
far as to propose in his message to Congress the 
passage of a law prohibiting the circulation of anti- 
slavery publications through the mails, and in 1836 
the House of Representatives refused to receive any 
"petitions, memorials, resolutions, and propositions 
relating in any way or to any extent whatever to 
the subject of slavery." The rule was rescinded 
at the end of 1845. The riot at Alton, 111., in 
November, 1837, in which the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, 
who has been called the first martyr in the slavery 
struggle, was killed, caused a deep sensation through- 
out the North, and brought out for the first time 
the wonderful eloquence of Wendell Phillips, who, 

* Garrison was born at Newburyport, Mass., December 12th, 1S04, 
and died in New York City May 24th, 1879. At an early age he entered 
the office of the Herald, in his native place, and soon became a con- 
tributoi to its columns. The struggles of the Greeks for indepen- 
dence (1820-30) stirred him, and he became an ardent advocate 
of freedom. Mild in manners and kindly in disposition, he was 
an uncompromising opponent of oppression, and waged incessant 
warfare upon negro slavery until its abolition, January 1st, 1863. He 
then retired to private life, but did not give up his active labor for 
humanity. 



SAN J UA N AND CHER UB USCO. 465 

but without the intention of making any address, 
had attended a meeting held to consider it. Ralph 
Waldo Emerson, the philosophical student, did not 
let the event pass unnoticed, and wrote, in his essay 
on " Heroism," soon afterwards : " It is but the other 
day that the brave Lovejoy gave his breast to the 
bullets of a mob, for the rights of free speech and 
opinion, and died when it was better not to live." 

In March, 1847, General Scott landed with a force 
near Vera Cruz, and laid siege to the fortress 
of San Juan de Ulloa, which had been considered 
invincible. The bombardment began on the twenty- 
second, and articles of capitulation were signed by 
the Mexicans on the twenty-seventh. The advance 
on the capital was then begun. On the twelfth of 
April, General Twiggs, in command of the advance, 
came upon Santa Anna, strongly fortified at the 
Rocky Pass of Cerro Gordo, and a few days later 
forced the Mexicans to flight, capturing three thou- 
sand prisoners and a large quantity of military 
accoutrements. After occupying Jalapa, the army 
under Scott entered Puebla without opposition. 
Leaving there a garrison with his sick and wounded, 
Scott passed on towards Mexico, which he saw from 
the heights on the tenth of August, 1847. 

A series of battles followed. On the nineteenth 
to the twentieth of August, Generals Twiggs and 
Pillow routed the Mexicans under General Valencia, 
at Contreras. On the twentieth, Generals Worth, Pil- 
low, Twiggs, Shields and Pierce completely defeated 
Santa Anna himself, at the heights of Cherubusco, 
forcing him to retire to the city, which was fortified 
by the Molino del Rey (King's Mill) and by the 



466 



WAR WITH MEXICO. 



fortress of Chapultepec, on a rock one hundred and 
fifty feet high, comprising a castle once a palace, 
but then occupied as a military school. Molino Del 
Rey was taken September 8th, by General Worth, 
but at the expense of great loss of life. On the 
thirteenth, Chapultepec was stormed by Generals 
Worth and Pillow, and on the fourteenth General 




SAN FilANCISCO. 



Scott entered Mexico, from which Santa Anna had 
fled the night before. A few minor battles followed, 
but the war was over. Santa Anna was a fugitive, 
and the Mexican Congress, in session at Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, a few miles from the city of Mexico, con- 
cluded a treaty of peace, by which the territory 



BOUGH A \ D READY. 407 

between Texas and the Pacific Ocean was ceded 

to the United States, which agreed to pay Mexico 
lit teen million dollars and to assume debts due 
American citizens by the Mexican government, to 
the amount of three and a half million dollars more. 
This treaty was ratified by Congress, and on the 
fourth of July, 1848, President Polk proclaimed 
peace. 

When the sixteenth national election approached, 
it was found that the Democratic party was hopelessly 
divided on the subject of slavery. Those favoring the 
"Wilmot Proviso," united with some of the Whigs in 
forming the " Free-Soil " Party, and nominated ex- 
President Van Buren for President. The other 
Democrats put forward Lewis Cass of Michigan, and 
the " Whigs," as the members of the opposite party 
were then called, nominated General Taylor of Ken- 
tucky, who had distinguished himself in the War of 
1812, in the Seminole War, and was then fresh from 
the victory of Buena Vista. His "rough and ready " 
manners, his success in arms and his irreproachable 
character combined to give him success at the polls, 
especially as he represented moderate views on the 
subject of slavery and was opposed to secession as a 
remedy for political evils. He was elected November, 
1848. Before the election of President Taylor, and at 
almost the moment that the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo was signed, a laborer turning up the soil of 
the territory then acquired by the United States, near 
the Sacramento River, for a mill race on the ranch of 
Colonel Suter, a Swiss emigrant, found particles of 
gold in his spade. The news of the discovery was 
rapidly carried throughout the world, and resulted in 



468 



WAR WITH MEXICO. 



the speedy gathering of a motley population on our 
new western coast, in great material progress of the 
nation, and also in giving the new administration 
grave questions of policy to decide. So rapid was the 
growth of population on the Pacific coast that Cali- 
fornia was admitted to the Union but little over two 
years after the discovery of gold. 




STANDING HOCKS ON BRINK OF MIT-AV CANON, COLORADO. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

THE eleven years just preceding the Civil War 
were years of violent strife, both parliamentary 
and military. The discovery of gold in California, 
which had been reserved for the moment when that 
region had passed into the hands of the United 
States, caused a speedy massing of population on our 
new western coast, and in less than two years after 
the event, the population had risen from less than 
twenty thousand to nearly five times that number, 
a convention had been held at Monterey (Sep- 
tember I, 1849), which had formed a constitution 
prohibiting slavery, and application had been made for 
admission as a State. 

President Taylor informed Congress that he had 
advised the people of California to form a government, 
and that he recommended Congress to receive the 
Territory as a State under the Constitution then 
adopted. The discussion which followed showed that 
the subject of slavery was becoming more and more 
threatening to the stability of the Union. The exclu- 
sion of slavery from the newly acquired Territories 
was opposed by the representatives of the South ; 
threats of disunion, such as had been heard all along 
through American history, became deep and frequent ; 

469 



470 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

two Southern States issued a call for a convention to 
frame a government for a "United States South ;" 
and the country was thoroughly agitated. Large 
meetings were held in the North, not to propose dis- 
union, as in past times, but to deprecate any further 
interference with slavery ; an interference that seemed 
so threatening to the brotherhood of the States. 
Before the adoption of its Constitution by California, 
Kentucky had been engaged in revising its govern- 
ment, and there ' Henry Clay had made an effort to 
provide for the abolition of slavery, arguing that it 
was not the "blessing" that others claimed it to be ; 
but his influence proved too weak to resist the oppo- 
sition he encountered, though it was made apparent 
that he did not belong to the class beginning to 
be spoken of as "Fire Eaters." This action gave a 
premonition of the position that this peacemaker 
among statesmen was about to take in the absorbing 
debate. 

In one of the most eloquent speeches of his life, 
delivered in the presence of a crowded chamber, Mr. 
Clay proposed a compromise intended to settle all 
differences regarding slavery and the organization of 
the Territories. It was introduced into the Senate 
January 29, 1850, and, in its eight sections, provided 
for the admission of California without any restriction 
regarding slavery, that Territorial governments should 
be organized in the remainder of the districts acquired 
from Mexico without such restrictions, established 
the boundary of Texas and provided for her debt to a 
certain extent, prohibited the trade in slaves in the 
District of Columbia (but did not abolish slavery 
there), declared that Congress had not the power to 



<7..! Y*S COMPROMISE BILL. 



171 




WESTERN INDIANS GAMBLING. 



prohibit the inter-State slave trade, and provided 
for the more complete enforcement of the fugitive 
slave law. 

Senators Mason, Foote, King, Butler and Davis 
opposed these measures, and Mr. Clay in supporting 



472 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

them, said that no earthly power should compel him 
to vote for the positive introduction of slavery into 
any national Territory ; that posterity should not 
reproach him for doing that for which we condemned 
Great Britain — for forcing slavery upon them. He 
said that he owed it to himself as representing a 
Southern State to say this. 

It was in the course of the debate on these resolu' 
tions that Daniel Webster made in the Senate, March 
7, 1850, the " Union Speech,"' or " Seventh of March 
Speech," for which he was at the time so severely 
condemned, and for which he was accused of turning 
his back on his party, though Mr. Adams had called 
him, in 1843, "A heartless traitor to the cause of 
human freedom." The aged Calhoun, too infirm to 
speak, had prepared his views, which were presented 
by Senator Mason of Virginia, demanding the " Final 
settlement on the principle of justice, of all the ques- 
tions at issue between the two sections " of the Union, 
and suggesting that two Presidents should be chosen 
instead of one, who should represent the slave and free 
States respectively. 

Mr. Clay's resolutions were referred to a committee 
of thirteen, including Cass, Webster, Mason, Dickin- 
son, King, Bell and others. As chairman of this 
committee, Mr. Clay reported to the Senate on the 
eighth of May, the "Omnibus" Bill, as it has been 
called, providing for the organization of Utah, in 
addition to the provisions of the resolutions. The 
debate continued until the ninth of September, inter- 
rupted by the death of the President on the tenth of 
July; but as Mr. Fillmore took the place immediately, 
and chose Mr. Webster as his Secretary of State, the 



TOOMBS AND WEBSTER. 17:; 

administration cast its weight in favor of the com- 
promise, and in time it became the law of the land. 

It was in the course of this debate that Mr. Robert 
Toombs of Georgia, made in the House of Representa- 
tives, Saturday, June 15th, the speech in which he has 
been represented to have said that he would yet 
" call the roll of his slaves on Bunker Hill," in whicji 
he actually said that if he was deprived of the right of 
entering the Territories with his slaves, he should be the 
enemy of the government, and would, if he could, 
bring his children and his constituents to the altar of 
liberty, and, like Hamilcar, swear them to eternal 
hostility to the foul domination. " Give us our just 
rights," he exclaimed, " and we are ready as ever 
heretofore, to stand by the Union, every part of it 
and its every interest. Refuse it, and I for one will 
strike for independence ! " 

The speech of Mr. Toombs created a great sensa- 
tion in the House, and on the Monday following, Mr. 
Webster decided the fate of the compromise by a 
speech delivered before a crowd so great as to fill the 
lobbies as well as the galleries of the Senate Chamber. 
In concluding, he said, " My object is peace — my 
object is reconciliation. ... I am against agitators 
North and South ; I am against local ideas North and 
South, and against all narrow and local contests. I am 
an American, and I know no locality in America. That 
is my country. My heart, my sentiments, my judg- 
ment, demand of me that I should pursue such a 
course as shall promote the good and the harmonv and 
the union of the whole country. This I shall do, God 
willing, to the end of the chapter." The vote was 
then taken, and it was decided that when a territory 



474 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

should be organized there should be no restriction 
regarding slavery either north or south of the Missouri 
Compromise line ; and in accordance with this vote, 
the compromise was effected. By many it was 
accepted as establishing a great principle which should 
xonfirm peace and harmony between the North and 
the South ; but this was not the result, though, as Mr. 
Greeley states, " There can be no doubt that it [the 
Compromise] was accepted and ratified by a great 
majority of the American people, whether in the 
North or in the South." 

While the North acquiesced in the Compromise as 
a peace measure, it was much agitated by the fugitive 
slave clause,* especially when it became common for 
slaves to be hunted through the free States, and to be 
returned, amid great excitement, from Northern cities. 
The "underground railroad," as it was called, became 
a means by which many slaves escaped to Canada, 
and entire villages sprung up just over our Northern 
borders, composed of such people. The rendition of 
Anthony Burns, which occurred in Boston, in 1854, 
and the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred 
Scott case, in 1857, which sustained the doctrine of 
Mr. Calhoun, that Congress had no right to pass any 

*This was a revival (with modifications) of an act passed February 
12, 1793. The Constitution provided for the return to their owners of 
fugitive slaves, and the Articles of Confederation of the New England 
Colonies of 1643 did the same. There was no such provision in the 
Articles of Confederation of the thirteen Colonies, adopted in 1778, and 
in consequence, the rendition of slaves under the confederacy had been 
alwavs difficult and sometimes impossible. In 1644, Governor Berkeley 
of Virginia, made a request for the return of some slaves escaped from 
Virginia to Massachusetts, saying in his letter, "We expect you to use 
all kind offices for the restoration to their master of these fugitives, as 
we constantly exercise the same officers in restoring runaways to you." 



THE WM.V.I INTENSIFIED. 



475 



law excluding slavery from the Territories, are indica- 
tions of the drift of opinion. The events of the ten 
years following the passage of the Compromise act 
read like the acts of a drama — all pointing to the 
great denouement — war. 

The discussion on the subject of the candidates for 




TIIK IIOMK OP WASHINGTON IliVINH. -I NNYSIDE, IKVIN(.I"\. 



President to follow Fillmore, gave indication of the 
depth and antagonism of men's feelings. The Demo- 
crats and Whigs both met in convention in Baltimore, 
in June, 1852. The Democrats met first, June first. 
They came together biased by an agreement entered 
into by members of both parties, not to support any 



476 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

candidate not pledged not to interfere with slavery, 
and they nominated Franklin Pierce of New Hamp- 
shire, as a person " available," because of his military 
reputation, and because being generally unknown, no 
word or act of his life could be shown to be in con- 
trarity to the principles of the party as expressed in 
the platform adopted by the convention. 

The choice of the Whigs, who met June sixteenth, 
lay between Mr. Fillmore, Mr. Webster, and General 
Scott, and Scott received the nomination, largely on 
the same grounds which had led to the choice of his 
subordinate by the opposite party. 

There were many in both parties who were deter- 
mined in their antagonism to the fugitive slave law, 
and indeed to slavery as a system, who declared it to 
be "a sin against God and a crime against man ; " and 
these, who called themselves the " Freesoil " party, 
held a convention at Pittsburgh, August eleventh, at 
which they nominated John P. Hale of New Hamp- 
shire, formerly a member of the Democratic party, 
and expressed their hostility to slavery extension and 
to all compromises regarding it. 

The election resulted in the support of Mr. Pierce, 
who was chosen by a vote that overwhelmingly de- 
feated both of his opponents and showed the persist- 
ent demand for peace. The people seemed to desire 
to be permitted to attend quietly to their manufac- 
turing, their commerce, and the improvement of the 
country, and not to be disturbed by questions of pub- 
lic policy. The administrations of Taylor and Fill- 
more had been effectual in administering to the masses 
the fatal mandragora that enabled them to sleep for 
a while on the crater of the social volcano that was 



THE SOCIAL VOLCANO. 477 

soon to pour forth devastation and ruin. Fillmore 
had, indeed, made admirable recommendations to Con- 
gress, but they had generally come to nothing. 

Trouble with England seemed imminent in 1852, 
on account of disputes about the Newfoundland fish- 
erics, but they were settled in 1854, by negotiation ; 
and a difficulty regarding the territory now known as 
Arizona, was settled in the next administration, by its 
purchase of Mexico for the United States, by Senator 
Gadsden of South Carolina, for twenty million dollars. 
It was during the administration of Fillmore that 
General Lopez and certain American adventurers 
attempted to get possession of Cuba, an act that 
attracted considerable attention abroad ; but it proved 
abortive, Lopez and other leaders being captured and 
executed at Havana. After the passage of the Com- 
promise measures, some of the Northern States enacted 
"personal liberty" laws, to provide for the liberation 
of fugitive slaves, but they were pronounced uncon- 
stitutional. 

The administration of Pierce opened with several 
events of a peaceable nature that are worthy of note. 
The Gadsden purchase of Arizona was the first. Then 
followed the "World's Fair," held in New York, in 
1853, in imitation of the exhibition that had been 
held in London in 185 1. The same year an American 
fleet, commanded by Commodore Perry, opened com- 
munication with Japan, and a way was made for the 
treaty that followed in 1854. The passage of so many 
people over the great desert between the Mississippi 
River and the Pacific Ocean had made apparent the 
advantages that would accrue from railroad communi- 
cation from ocean to ocean, and Jefferson Davis, then 



478 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

Secretary of War, under the authority of Congress, 
sent out several companies of engineers who surveyed 
five routes by which such communication was prac- 
ticable. Lewis and Clarke had gone over the region 
in 1 803-1 806, and General Fremont had done the 
same in 1842-46. 

The great political events of Pierce's administra- 
tion are connected with the slavery agitation. The 
excitement which became intense, was begun by Sen- 
ator Stephen Arnold Douglas of Illinois, chairman of 
the Committe on Territories, who, on the twenty-third 
of January, 1854, introduced a bill for the organiza- 
tian of Kansas and Nebraska, by which the restric- 
tions of the Missouri Compromise were nullified, and 
the provisions of the compromise measure of 1850, 
were affirmed, and the Territories were admitted with 
no restriction regarding slavery. Clay, Calhoun and 
Webster had died, and their places in Congress were 
occupied by lesser men ; but still the Senate and 
House comprised many members of ability, by whom 
the bill was discussed, but as the supporters of it were 
three to one of it opponents, the debates were not of 
the engrossing nature of former years. The Bill was 
passed by both houses, and was signed by President 
Pierce. 

By leaving the question of slavery to be decided by 
the inhabitants who should occupy the new Terri- 
tories, Congress provoked competition for supremacy 
between emigrants from the North and the South, 
who became known as " Squatters," and the suprem- 
acy they sought as " Squatter sovereignty," in the 
words of Lewis Cass. Emigrant aid societies were 
formed in the North and South and a struggle began 



THE HTRUGGLE FOR KANSAS. \s] 

for the land. The Massachusetts Emigrant Aid So- 
ciety, which had been formed with Amos A. Lawrence 
as Treasurer, and a nominal capita] of five million 
dollars, placed a band of about thirty persons on the 
present site of Lawrence, in July, and some sixty or 
seventy more the next month. These were at first 
menaced by persons from Missouri, who were called 
in the slang of the time, " Border Ruffians." Before 
winter, the Society had sent five hundred emigrants, 
and other tree States had contributed enough more to 
give a population of some eight thousand. 

Elections were held for members of Congress and 
for members of the Territorial Legislature, in the 
autumn of 1854 and in the spring of 1855, at which 
many votes were cast that were evidently those of 
non-residents, and illegal; but the authorities recog- 
nized enough of them to permit the choice of pro- 
slavery men. Other elections were held at which 
free-State men were chosen, and delegates of two dif- 
ferent political parties, as well as two Legislatures. 
One of these met at ""Shawnee Mission," on the bor- 
der of Missouri, and adopted the laws of Missouri as 
the laws of Kansas merely changing the word State 
to Territory. The other met at Topeka, and framed 
a free-State constitution, and asked to be admitted to 
the Union as a State. 

Between the parties thus formed, called by them- 
selves respectively "Border Ruffians," and "Aboli- 
tionists," a protracted war began. It was in this war 
that John Brown, then called from the town in which 
he lived, " Ossawattomie " Brown, began his active 
warfare in behalf of the freedom. The President sent 
out Governors, who reported that peace had been 



482 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

effected, but in reality there was no peace. In the 
course of this war, on the twenty-first of May, 1856, 
the town of Lawrence was sacked by a body of men 
from South Carolina, under command of Colonel 
Buford ; the village of Ossawattomie was burned, 
June 5th, and Leavenworth was the scene of a number 
of outrages, especially on the occasion of an election 
held September 1st, 1856, when all the free-State 
men were put on a steamboat and sent down the 
river, after the town had been ravaged and at least 
one man killed. 

During these exciting scenes the time for the nom- 
ination of a President approached, and it found three 
parties in the field. The country became intensely 
agitated. The Richmond Inquirer in impressing upon 
its readers the necessity of electing a Democrat, said : 
" Let the South present a compact and undivided front. 
Let her show to the barbarians that her sparse popu- 
lation offers little hope of plunder ; her military and 
self-reliant habits, and her mountain retreats, little 
prospect of victory ; and her firm union and devoted 
resolution no chances of conquest. Let her if possi- 
ble, detach Pennsylvania and Southern Ohio, South- 
ern Indiana and Southern Illinois from the North, 
and make the Highlands between the Ohio and the 
lakes the dividing line.* Let the South treat with 

* At the same time, Mr. Preston Brooks, of South Carolina, speak- 
ing to the people of his State, said, that if, on the second Monday of 
November next, it be found that Fremont is elected, he thought 
the course of the South was plain. It was his deliberate opinion that 
"we should then on the fourth of March next, march to Washington, 
seize the archives, and the treasury of the Government, and leave the 
consequences to God." — John Minor Botts, in The Great Rebellion, its 
secret History, page 167. 



PRESIDENTIAL DOMINATIONS. 



183 



California, and, if necessary, ally herself with Russia, 
with Cuba or Brazil." 

The Democrats nominated James Buchanan, who 
announced his approval of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill ; 
the "Know-nothing" party, organized at Philadelphia 




PAUL HAMILTON IIAYNK, THE POET OF THE SOUTH. 



on Washington's birthday, 1856, nominated Millard 
Fillmore ; and the " Republican " party, then first 
formed, nominated John C. Fremont, the explorer 
of the Rocky Mountains. The Republican party 



484 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

comprised the Free-soil party, and most of the old 
Whigs ; was opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and 
declared its enmity to "those twin relics of barbarism, 
polygamy and slavery." Its nominating convention 
was held in Philadelphia, on the anniversary of the 
battle of Bunker Hill, a preliminary convention hav- 
ing been held at Pittsburgh on Washington's birth- 
day. The " Know-nothing " party was also known as 
the "American " party, from the fact that it recog- 
nized the right of native-born and naturalized citizens 
only, permanently residing in any territory, to frame 
its laws and to regulate its domestic and social affairs. 

At the election in November, 1856, Fillmore and 
Fremont received together fifty-five per cent, of the 
popular vote, but Buchanan was chosen, owing to the 
division of his antagonists. The interest of his 
administration still keeps us to a consideration of the 
slavery struggle. 

The election of Mr. Buchanan roused in the North 
a corresponding spirit to that which we have noticed 
had been excited in the South in view of the possible 
election of Fremont. One of the indications of this 
is seen in the "Disunion Convention," held at Wor- 
cester, Mass., January 15th, 1857, the call for which 
stated that the Union had proved "a failure, as being 
a hopeless attempt to unite under one government 
two antagonistic systems of society," and presented 
the object of the meeting to be to " consider the 
practicability, probability and expediency of a separa- 
tion between the Free and Slave States." As the 
Southern agitators had said that the Northerners 
were "barbarians," so now it was said that "the 
South was sinking deeper into barbarism every 



NOimihh'X VISUNIONIBM. 185 

year ;" and as they demanded disunion, so these said 
that they would have " liberty out of the Union, and 
over the Constitution, if it must be,'' — " peace or war 
is a secondary consideration." As in the South there 
were many who did not approve the extreme views of 
their loudest talkers, so the mass of the North did 
not support such conventions as this. They did 
not agree with one of the speakers, who said, " Dis- 
union is not a desire only, it is a destiny." Like the 
late Henry Wilson and Dr. Henry W. Bellows, they 
disapproved slavery, but they also held firmly to the 
Union. 

The first important event was the promulgation of 
the " Dred Scott " decision, as it was called, in March, 
1857, in which Chief Justice Taney,* speaking for a 
majority of the justices of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, declared that under the laws, negroes, 
whether free or bond, were not citizens, and could 
not become citizens, and had no right to bring a case 

* Roger B. Taney was appointed Chief Justice at the death of 
Marshal], in 1835. The change which followed in the tone of the 
decisions, caused Judge Story to feel that the constitutional interpreta- 
tions of the Court, which Americans have ever regarded as conclusive 
and not to be controverted, were losing ground, and led Chancellor Kent 
to exclaim : " I have lost my confidence and hopes in the Constitu- 
tional guardianship and protection of the Supreme Court." Up to 
that time the Court had upheld the authority of the Federal Govern- 
ment against the doctrine of State sovereignty; after that date the 
tendency was in the opposite direction. The case before us sln>\\^ 
the climax of the tendencv. The Republican platform of 1S80 empha- 
sized the doctrine of nationality, as opposed to that of State rights. 
The Dred Scott decision has since been (in effect, though not in form) 
reversed by the Supreme Court. V>\ the constitution of our Govern- 
ment, the legislative, executive and judicial departments arc carefully 
separated from each other, and a member of the judiciary may not, 
i'ke the Lord Chancellor of England, exercise political powers. 



486 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

into the courts. This decision added fuel to the fire 
that was burning in the North, for it was contrary to 
the laws of some of the States, and especially was 
it held to contravene the ordinance of 1787, creating 
the Northwestern Territory. 

In Kansas, a convention was held at Lecompton, 
in September, 1857, which framed a pro-slavery con- 
stitution. This was submitted to the people on the 
fourth of January, 1858, and rejected. A new con- 
vention was held at Wyandot, in March, 1859. It 
framed a constitution that was adopted in October, 
and Republican officers were chosen under it. 
Kansas then applied for admission to the Union, but 
was refused, owing to the action of the Senate, in 
February, i860 ; but the application was renewed, and 
on the twenty-eighth of January, 1861, she was duly 
admitted as a free State. Minnesota was admitted 
to the Union May n, 1858, and Oregon followed 
February 14, 1859. 

Before this conclusion had been reached, however, 
the country was' astonished by the report that an 
attempt had been made at Harper's Ferry to arouse 
the slaves to a servile insurrection. It arose from the 
independent action of John Brown* of Kansas, who 
had, on the sixteenth of October, with a small band 
of armed followers, taken possession of the arsenal at 
that place, and declared it to be his intention to give 
freedom to the slaves. Of his company of twenty-one 

* At the time of the murder of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, at Alton, 
111., in November, 1837, Brown, then a tanner, was living in the 
" Western Reserve," in Ohio. When the news of the tragedy reached 
the Western Reserve College, a mass-meeting was held, at which 
Brown said, " By the grace of God, I devote my life from this day to 
the extinction of slavery." 



.mii\ uROWN ATHARPER'S FERRY. 



487 



men, thirteen were killed in the encounter with the 
militia sent to protect the public property, and the 
others were captured, imprisoned, and soon executed. 
Brown was a descendant of Peter Brown, who came 
from England in the Mayflower. He was a man of 




HARPER 8 FERRY, VIRGINIA. 



pronounced views, and had, as we have learned, been 
engaged in the struggle in Kansas. In 1859 he had 
left Kansas, and he had, on May 8, 1858, held a 
secret convention at Chatham, Ontario, where he 
had adopted a provisional constitution for "the 
people of the United States," under which officers 
were chosen. Afterward he went to Harper's Ferry, 
near which place he rented a house and remained 
consummating his plans until the attack was made on 
the town. 



488 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

The affair at Harper's Ferry created a great excite- 
ment both North and South. The North had already 
been stirred by the assault made by a representative 
of South Carolina, upon Senator Sumner of Massachu- 
setts, on the twenty-second of May, 1856, and had begun 
to feel that an appeal to force was to be made by the sup- 
porters of slavery. The assault occurred during the de- 
bate upon the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. On the nineteenth 
and twentieth of May, Mr. Sumner had delivered a 
speech, in the course of which he had spoken with force 
and plainness about " the crime against Kansas," as 
he termed the steps taken in the passage of the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska Bill, and he had been met with vitupera- 
tive abuse by various Senators, who disagreed with 
him. In replying to this abuse, Mr. Sumner used 
language too much like that of his antagonists, and a 
reference to Senator Butler of South Carolina was 
made by Mr. Brooks the basis of the assault. After 
the Senate had adjourned, he entered the chamber 
where Mr. Sumner sat at his desk writing, and, saying 
that the speech of Mr. Sumner was a "libel upon 
South Carolina and Mr. Butler," who was his relative, 
Mr. Brooks suddenly struck Mr. Sumner on the head 
with a stout stick until he fell bleeding and uncon- 
scious to the floor. For the attack, Mr. Butler was 
censured by the House of Representatives and fined 
by a Washington court, but, as he was sustained, and 
even praised, by many prominent persons in the 
South, it was felt at the North that the South was in 
earnest in wishing to decide the differences between 
the sections by other than peaceful means. 

On the other hand, the South accepted the act of 
John Brown as that of the entire North, and believed 



PRE SID EXTI. 1 L CANDIDA TE8. 491 

that there was a settled determination there to pro- 
ceed to liberate the slaves by force and to plunge that 
section in the horrors of a servile war. As lone ago 
as 1850, Daniel Webster said that one cause of sec- 
tional jealousy consisted " in imputing to a whole por- 
tion of the country the extravagances of individuals." 
While the country was in this disturbed condition, 
the time for nominating President for the following 
term arrived. The first convention to be held was 
that of the Democrats, at Charelston, S. C, April 
23, but after a stormy session of ten days, it broke 
up without having made a nomination. On the 
ninth of May the relics of the Whig and " Know-noth- 
ing " party met at Baltimore, and nominated as repre- 
senting the "Constitutional Union" party, John Bell 
of Tennessee, for President, and Edward Everett * of 
Massachusetts for Vice-President. One week later, 
the Republican party met at Chicago and nominated 
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, and adopted a platform 

* John Bell was born in 1797, near Nashville, Tenn., and died in 
1869. He first became a member of Congress in 1S27, and was six 
times re-elected before 1841. lie opposed Nullification, supported 
Jackson as President, but protested against his removal of the bank 
deposits. He separated from the Democratic 'party, and became Secre- 
tary of War under Harrison. In 1847 he was sent to Washington as 
Senator, and again in 1843. H e favored Mr. Clay's compromise 
measures, and opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. 

Edward Everett, a native of Boston, was born in 1794 and died in 
1865. He graduated at Harvard College, in 1S11, with the highest 
honors of his class, and entered the ministry ; but after preaching a 
year, went abroad to study at the University of Gottingen, and 
returned to take the chair of Greek at Cambridge. In 1S25, he 
entered Congress, and occupied public posts of great importance until 
1854. He had been Minister to England, Secretary of State, Senator 
at Washington, Governor of Massachusetts and President of Harvard 
College. He was judicial and conservative in his habits of mind, and 
of almost universal culture. 



492 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

in which the attempt of John Brown was denounced 
as "lawless and unjustifiable," denying the authority 
of Congress, of a territorial Legislature, or of any 
individuals, to " give legal existence to slavery in any 
territory of the United States," affirming the princi- 
ples of the Constitution of the United States as 
essential to the preservation of our Republican insti- 
tutions, and that the rights of the States should be 
held inviolate, and especially that " the right of each 
State to order and control its own domestic institu- 
tions according to its own judgment exclusively, is 
essential to that balance of power on which the per- 
fection and endurance of our political fabric depends." 
The convention of the Democratic party re-assem- 
bled at Baltimore, June 18, but could not agree. 
Most of the Southern delegates (who had all retired 
from the convention at Charleston, because the 
Northern delegates refused to consent to their 
demands) left the convention, and those who re- 
mained, nominated Stephen A. Douglas for President. 
The seceders met first at Richmond, and afterwards, 
June 28, at Baltimore, and nominated John C. Breck- 
enridge of Kentucky. 

Thus, when the campaign opened, it found four 
parties in the field. It was understood that the 
success of the Republican candidate would be 
accepted by the Southern States as giving them a 
reason for seceding from the Union, and the contest 
was carried on with all the vigor that earnest sup- 
porters of diverse opinions could infuse into it. Mr. 
Douglas entered the arena in person, speaking in 
most of the States in his own behalf. The election 
occurred in November, and resulted in the choice 



SOUTH CAROLI* 1 SJE< EDE8. I'.i:; 

of Mr. Lincoln, by a popular vote greater than any 
President had ever received before, and a majority 
of titty-seven electoral votes over the other candi- 
dates. 

In pursuance of the avowed intention, the Gov- 
ernor of South Carolina convened the legislature 
in special session two days before the election, in 
oriler that it might take action "immediately," to 
consider and determine the mode and measure of 
redress " in the event of Abraham Lincoln's election 
to the Presidency," and on the twentieth of the fol- 
lowing month, a convention held in "Secession Hall," 
at Charleston, S. C, voted to dissolve the union 
between South Carolina and the other States. In 
the course of the remarks on that occasion, one 
delegate said, " It is no spasmodic effort that has 
come suddenly upon us; it has been gradually culmi- 
nating for a long period of thirty years."* Another 
said, in deprecating any discussion of the proposed 
act, "Most of us have had this matter under consid- 
eration for the last twenty years, and I presume that 
we have by this time arrived at a decision upon 
the subject." Mr. Keitt, one of the eulogists of the 
assailant of Sumner said, " I have been engaged in 
this movement ever since I entered political life ; " and 

* In bis "Seventh of March Speech," Mr. Webster said ten years 
before, scouting the possibility of "peaceable secession," " I see that 
disruption must produce such a war as I will nut describe in its two 
: ' ' 1 1 <■ added, "There is to be a Southern Confederacy. 
I do not mean, when I allude to this statement, that any one serii 
contemplates such .1 state of things. I do not mean to saj 1! 
i- true, but I have heard it suggested elsewhere, that the idea has 
originated in a design to separate. I am sorry, sir, that it ha-- 
been thought of. talked of, or dreamed of, in the wildest flights of 
human imagination." 



494 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

Mr. Robert Barnwell Rhett said, " The secession of 
South Carolina is not the event of a day ; it is not 
anything produced by Mr. Lincoln's election, or by the 
non-execution of the fugitive slave law. It has been 
a matter which has been gathering head for thirty 
years." 

A commissioner was sent with a copy of the seces- 
sion ordinance to each slave State, urging it to follow 
the example, and on the eighteenth of January, 1861, 
Georgia passed a like ordinance. Mississippi followed 
January 9; Florida, January 10; Alabama, January 
11 ; Louisiana, January 26 ; and Texas, February 1. 
Conventions were held in Arkansas, North Caro- 
lina, Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mary- 
land and Delaware ; but those States refused to take 
action at once. On the fourth of February, 1861, 
delegates from all of the States that had then 
seceded, excepting Texas, convened at Montgomery, 
Ala., and formed a new government, under the name 
"The Confederate States of America," choosing Jef- 
ferson Davis of Mississippi, President, and Alexander 
H. Stephens of Georgia, Vice President .* Immediate 
possession of the property of the United States 
within the limits of the new confederacy was taken, 
and war was the result. 

* Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky, in 1808, and graduated at 
the West Point Military Academy, in 1828. He took active part in 
the Indian wars of 1S31 to 1835. He afterwards removed to Mis- 
sissippi, where he was chosen as Representative, by the Democratic 
party, in 1845. The next year he resigned his seat to take part in the 
Mexican War. His conduct at Buena Vista received commendation 
from Tavlor in his dispatches. He was sent to the United States 
Senate, in 1S47, where he became one of the prominent advocates of 
slavery and State rights. He was Secretary of War under President 



OPPOSITION TO SECESSION. M»7 

It was evident that the people of the South were, 
however, not all read) for the resort to arms. The 
refusal of eight of the States to pass the Secession 
Ordinance resulted from the " unqualified disapproval 
of the remedy for the existing difficulties," as a reso- 
lution of the Delaware legislature expressed it, because 
as a Southern paper said, " The vilest, most damnable, 
deep-laid, and. treacherous conspiracy that was ever 
concocted in the busy brain of the most designing 
knave," was being formed by "meddling politicians," 
and "political tricksters." It was because the love 
of the Union was too strong, and, as the Governor of 
Maryland said, there was "nothing in the bare elec- 
tion of Mr. Lincoln, which would justify the South 
in taking any steps towards the separation of these 
States." On this subject the late Alexander H. 
Stephens said, November 14, i860, in reply to the 
question whether the Southern States ought to secede, 
" I tell you frankly, candidly, and earnestly, that I do 
not think they ought." Again, in January, 1861, when 
addressing a convention in Georgia, he reviewed the 
relations between the government and the Southern 
States, and then impressively said, that to overthrow 
such a government, " Is the height of madness, folly, 
and wickedness, to which I can neither lend my sanc- 

Pierce, and afterwards was active in the Secession movements. 
Alexander II. Stephens was born in Georgia, in 1812, and was a 
Whig member of Congress from 1843 to Il ^59- " e advocated the 
annexation of Texas and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Afterwards he 
joined the Democratic party, and supported Buchanan. He was sent 
to Congress again, after the Civil War, and in 1S82, was chosen 
Governor of Georgia. He died at Atlanta, Sunday, March 4, [883, 
and was followed to the grave by a large number of fellow-citizens, 
who mourned him as a true Christian. 



C98 



FROM COMPROMISE TO SECEs.sioy, 



ion nor my vote." He said at the same time that no 
one could name any " Governmental act of wrong, 
deliberately and purposely done by the government 
at Washington, of which the South has a right to 
complain." 

It may well be doubted if war would ever have been 




FORT SUMTER. 



precipitated had it not been for several misconceptions 
that the Southern politicians had long impressed upon 
their constituents as truths, and which the people of 
the South now fully believed. These were (i.), that in 
case of actual conflict, the South would meet a divided 



POLITICAL DSLU8I0N8. I'.i'.i 

North, for the Democrats, and all Southern sympa- 
thizers (among whom were counted business men 
having dealings with the South) would, so the South- 
ern leaders said, surely oppose all vigorous prosecution 
of war. (n.) That the men of the North would prove 
feeble opponents ; that "one Southerner was worth five 
Yankees." [After these words had been written, a 
Northern visitor returned from the South, published 
in a New York journal an article on "The new South," 
in the course of which he said : " An old officer of the 
Confederate army said to me, 'We were brought up to 
think that one Southerner could whip ten Yankees, 
but we found we were mistaken. That was the reason 
we were so easily led by our Southern leaders to engage 
in a war with the North.' "J (in.) That Great Britain 
and other European powers would take the side of the 
South — that propositions to that effect had actually 
been made in advance. This Jefferson Davis constantly 
affirmed, and alter the battle of Bull Run, he announced 
the recognition of the Confederacy in the immediate 
future an absolute certainty.* (iv.) That the actual 
seat of war would not be on Southern territory, but 
that the Northern cities and wealthy regions would be 
devastated and the Southern army would live on the 
enemy. This great mistake was very influential, and 
the Southern leaders used it to the utmost. It took 
away from the horrors of war, and it offered also a 

* In his speech made at Stevenson, Ala., on the way to Monl 
gomery, after his election as President of the Confederacy, Mr. Davis 
s.iid, " England will recognize us, and a glorious future is before us. 
The grass will grow in the Northern cities whore the pavement has 
been worn off by the tread of commerce." This hallucination always 
ssed Mr. Davis, and he reiterated its expression in a spirited 
proclamation even after the fall of Richmond. 



500 FROM COMPROMISE TO SECESSION. 

solution to the difficulty of sustaining a large army 
with limited resources. It is not improbable that the 
leaders may have deceived themselves as well as those 
whom they tried to influence, until they honestly 
believed these statements to be true. 

In January, 1861, President Buchanan secretly 
ordered supplies sent to Major Anderson, then in 
command of the troops at Fort Sumter, in Charleston 
harbor, and on the approach of the steamer bearing 
these supplies, it was fired upon by the Confederates, 
fortified on Morris Island, and obliged to return to 
New York without fulfilling its mission. Thus war 
was begun. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



WAR FOR UNION. 



THE people of the North were not willing to per- 
mit the country to be precipitated into the 
horrors of a revolution without making an effort to 
preserve peace. They felt that the measures taken 
in South Carolina bore the marks of " haste, of pas- 
sion, of distrust of the popular judgment," as a prom- 
inent New York journal expressed it. It was thought 
that a small number of headstrong leaders desired to 
force the Southern States to act before time had been 
allowed for calm discussion of the reasons for seces- 
sion. There was ground for this view of the case, as 
the columns of the public newspapers of the South 
showed plainly, and as the utterances of the cooler 
statesmen there also proved.* 

In accordance with this desire, the Northern 
journals offered many suggestions of bases for the 
peaceful settlement of the differences between the 
sections, and many propositions for conciliation, com- 
promise and peace were made in legislative bodies. 
When Congress convened at Washington, December 

♦John Minor Botts, :i Southern Unionist, in his book entitled "The 
Great Rebellion, its Secret History," says that the Virginia Legisla- 
ture "made hot haste, without consulting the people, and without the 
slightest authority." Page 184. Mr. Botts was a writer of great vehe- 
mence, and not impartial, but much may be learned from his pages. 

501 



502 WAR FOR UNION. 

3, i860, President Buchanan presented his solution of 
the problem in his annual message, in an amendment 
to the Constitution of three paragraphs, providing 
that the right of property in slaves should be dis- 
tinctly recognized ; that this right should be protected 
in the Territories ; and that the validity of the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law should be firmly asserted. These 
suggestions were referred in the Senate to a commit- 
tee of thirteen, which, after four weeks of deliberation, 
reported its inability to agree upon any general plan 
of adjustment. 

On the Monday after the delivery of the Presi- 
dent's message, a number of plans were, however, 
presented in the House of Representatives, by John 
Sherman* of Ohio, Charles H. Larrabee of Wisconsin, 
Thomas C. Hindman of Arkansas, John Cohcrane of 
New York and others. They ranged from a proposi- 
tion to have a convention of all the States, to a simple 
demand that the requirements of the Constitution 
should be observed. All were referred to a com- 
mittee on the national peril, composed of a represent- 
ative from each State. After deliberating four days, 
this committee presented a resolution stating that the 
discontent of the Southern people are "greatly to be 
regretted," and that " any reasonable, proper and 
constitutional remedies necessary to preserve the 

*John Sherman, brother of General W. T. Sherman, was born at 
Lancaster, Ohio, in 1823, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, in 
1844. He entered political life, was three times chosen to office from 
1854 to 1858, and became prominent. He was sent to Congress in 
1S60, and became Senator from Ohio in 1866. One of the ablest debat- 
ors, he has been prominent in discussing financial affairs, and for a time 
was Secretary of the Treasury. With the late Thaddetis Stevens, he 
prepared the bill for the reconstruction of the seceded States, in 1866. 




PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 



603 



EFFORTS FOR PEACE. 505 

peace of the country and the perpetuation of the 
Union should be promptly and cheerfully granted." 

On the seventeenth of December, the House 
passed a vote deprecating " the spirit of disobedience 
to the Constitution," and recommending the States 
to repeal all statutes in conflict with that sacred 
instrument. Another vote affirmed the duty of the 
President to "protect and defend the property of the 
United States," but the Southern members permitted 
it to pass without their votes. 

On the eighteenth of December, Senator Critten- 
den* of Kentucky, a statesman who on account of the 
purity of his character and the great length of his 
term of public service, commanded the respect of the 
country, offered, as his contribution to the efforts for 
peace, suggestions for four amendments to the Con- 
stitution, not differing essentially from those pre- 
sented by the President in his message. When the 
time for action came, January 16th, 1861, a substitute 
for Mr. Crittenden's resolution was passed, declaring 
that the Constitution needed "to be obeyed rather 
than amended," and that " compromises for particular 
difficulties, or concessions to unreasonable demands," 
were not to be looked upon as means of extricating 
the country from present clangers; that attempts to 
dissolve the Union, or to construct a new Constitu- 

* John Jay Crittenden, born in Woodford Co., Kentucky, in 1787, 
entered the Senate in 1817, and again in 1835. He was a warm friend 
of Henry Clay, and approved his compromise measures. He was a 
member of the Cabinet of Harrison, hut resigned on the accession of 
Tyler. From 1850 to 1853 he was a member of Fillmore's Cabinet. 
He was in the Senate again from 1855 to 1S61. He opposed the 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the Secession movement. His 
death occurred in 1863. 



506 



WAB FOR UNION. 



tion " are dangerous, illusive and destructive," and 
that all "the energies of all the departments of the 
government, and the efforts of all good citizens," 
should be directed to u the maintenance of the exist- 
ing Union and 
C o n stitution." 
The discussions 
continued until 
February, but 
proved effective 
in nothing. The 
committee o f 
one from each 
State formed in 
the House did 
not effect more. 
On the last day 
of January, 1861, 
there was con- 
vened at Albany, 
N. Y., a "peace 
c onf er e nee " 
called by the 
Democrats, but 
including many 
men of great influence who had acted with the Whig 
and " American " parties. It was called to insist upon 
a peaceful settlement of the interstate difficulties. 
The chairman, Judge Amasa J. Parker, said that the 
people had a right to demand " that there shall be con- 
ciliation, concession, compromise." Other speakers 
referred to the strong sympathy that had always 
existed between the Democratic party and the South, 




JOHN GREEN LEAF WHITTIEE. 



THE STAB OF THE WEST, 507 

.md made it apparent that that sympathy still existed. 

This served to strengthen the feeling in the South, 
to which reference has been made, that the North 
would present a divided front in case of actual war. 

At the time that the Senate was discussing the 
resolutions offered by Mr. Crittenden, the Legislature 
of Virginia was giving thought to the plans for concil- 
iation, and on the sixteenth of January adopted resolu- 
tions proposing a "peace conference," to be composed 
of a representative from each State, which should 
attempt to adjust the controversies. Representa- 
tives of thirteen free States met at Washington, on the 
fourth of February, and continued in session three 
weeks, at the end of which time they presented to 
Congress a series of proposed amendments to the Con- 
stitution. Ex-President Tyler was chairman of tins 
Convention. The proceedings were brought before 
the House March ist, 1861, but not acted upon. 
The Senate refused to accept the proposition of the 
peace conference instead of the project of Mr. Critten- 
den, and finally rejected Mr. Crittenden's plan. Thus 
the efforts for peace ended, for while the discussions 
were in progress in the North, the Star of the West ' 
had been fired upon at Charleston, and Georgia, Ala- 
bama and North Carolina had taken possession of 
forts and arsenals belonging to the United States. 
Other public property was promptly seized. In Louis- 

* The Star of the West was a steamer sent with fifty recruits and 
supplies to Majm Anderson at Fort Sumter. It left New York on the 
night of January 5th, i86r, and reached Charleston Harbor on the 
ninth. Tt was fired at from sand batteries at the entrance of the 
harbor, and was struck once or twice, and being a merchant vessel, ii 
was unable to return the lire. It was forced to put to sea without 
effecting its mission. 



508 WAR FOR UNION. 

iana, Missouri, Florida and Texas, siezures were made 
before the inauguration of the new President, and a 
Southern historian states that over a hundred thou- 
sand muskets and rifles had previously been trans- 
ferred from Springfield, Mass., to various arsenals 
in the South, in anticipation of the war, the value 
of the property thus obtained being some thirty mil- 
lion of dollars.* 

Abraham Lincoln, the new President, was a " man 
of the people," who had been born of humble parents, 
in Kentucky, in 1805, and after having served in the 
Black Hawk War, in 1832, had become interested in 
State politics. He was elected a member of the Illi- 
nois Legislature in 1834. Admitted to the practice 
of law, he established himself in Springfield, and soon 
became a man of note. In 1846, he was chosen a 
member of the House of Representatives, and there, 
in May, of the same year, made a speech to which we 
have already referred, against the Mexican war policy 
of President Polk, in support of his " Spot Resolu- 
tions," as they were called. f After the passage of 
the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, he delivered a powerful 
oration against Stephen A. Douglas,^ which carried his 

* See also McPherson's " History of the Rebellion," p. 84, and quota- 
tions from it, in J. M. Botts's '"The Great Rebellion," p. 121. 
i See page 456. 

t Stephen Arnold Douglas was born at Brandon, Vt, in 1813, and 
removed to Illinois in 1833, where he began to practice law at Jack- 
sonville. Soon becoming an active Democratic politician, he was 
elected to Congress in 1843, where he advocated the admission of 
Texas. From [847 to his death, he was Senator from Illinois. He 
supported Clay's compromise measures in 1850. He was the reputed 
author of the doctrine of popular sovereignty, or the right of each terri- 
torv to decide for or against slavery. In 1854, he reported the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill. He was a rival of Buchanan, in the Democratic con- 



LINCOLN ELECTED. 509 

audience by storm, and pointed to him as the natural 
person to oppose the " Little Giant." In 1858, the two 
became candidates for the United States Senatorship, 
and a remarkable contest ensued, in the course of which 
Lincoln and Douglas spoke in various places in Illi- 
nois in advocacy of their respective claims. In the 
opening speech of this campaign, delivered at Spring- 
held, June 17, 1858, Lincoln, who had been known as 
a conservative Whig, uttered the now memorable 
words, " A house divided against itself cannot stand. 
I believe this Government cannot endure half slave 
and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dis- 
solved, I do not expect the house to fall, but I do 
expect that it will cease to be divided." Douglas 
became Senator, but Mr. Lincoln gained the greater 
popular vote. When he was made the candidate of 
the Republican party for President, in i860, few 
people in the country knew him, and many felt that 
the nomination was a weak one, but his speeches after 
his election proved him to be a sagacious and thought- 
ful man who could bring a subject before the popular 
mind in a manner so perspicacious and original as to 
fix it in the memory of his hearers. His character is 
best indicated by his own words, uttered March 4, 
1865, in his second inaugural address — "with malice 
toward none, with charity for all." He entered office 
declaring his intention not to irritate any portion of 
the country, but to strive to carry out all the laws of 
the land in strict impartiality. He indicated that his 

vention of 1856, and became his bitter enemy, opposing the admission 
of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. In i860 he was again 
candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, and \\;i^ nomi 
nated at Charleston. Upon the breaking out of war, he supported the 
government, lie died in 1861. 



510 WAR FOB UNION. 

policy would be simply to hold or re-take the forts and 
other property of the United States, that might be 
threatened or occupied by any forces not under Fed- 
eral authority, and he advised the people to keep their 
self-possession, assuring them that as other clouds had 
cleared away, so that one would which then threat- 
ened the land. " Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, 
and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken 
this land," he asserted in language which reminds us 
of the utterances of Washington, " are still competent 
to adjust in the best way all our present difficulties." 
Mr. Lincoln evidently intended to pursue a "peace 
policy," and not to interfere with slavery.* 

The policy of the Confederates was indicated by 
Mr. Davis in several of his speeches in such words as 
the following : " If they attempt invasion by land, we 
must take the war out of our territory. If war must 
come, it must be upon Northern and not upon South- 
ern soil." "We will carry war where it is easy to 
advance ; where food for the sword and torch await 
our armies in the densely populated cities ; and though 
they may come and spoil our crops, we can raise them 
as before, while they cannot rear the cities which 
took years of industry and millions of money to 
build." Mr. Stephens, the Vice-President, stated the 
principles of the Confederate Government in a speech 
delivered at Savannah, in March, i860, in which he 

*In August, 1S62, when a great pressure was brought to bear upon 
Mr. Lincoln to lead him to confiscate slaves and declare emancipation, 
he wrote : " My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either 
to save or destroy slavery." " What I do about slavery and the col- 
ored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union ; and 
what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to 
save the Union." 



THE ( <>\ FEDERA l I PRINCIPLES. 



51 1 



used these words : " Its foundations are laid, its 
corner stone rests upon the great truth that the 
negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, 
subordination to the superior race, is his natural 
and normal condition." "The negro by nature, or by 
the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition 
which he occupies in our system." "This stone, 




FOBT SUMTER AFTEB THE BOMBARDMENT. 



which was rejected by the first builders, 'is become 
the chief stone of the corner ' in our new edifice." 
While the leaders were thus hurrying the South on 
towards war, the Southern people were, as Mr. Pollard 
says in his history, anxious for peace and deplored 
war between the two sections, as "a policy detrimental 
to the civilized world." 

Actual war was brought on by an attack upon Fort 



512 WAR FOR UNION. 

Sumter, in Charleston harbor. The commander in 
charge, Major Robert Anderson, had refused to sur- 
render it to the confederates, and his supplies had 
been cut off. Upon news of this reaching Wash- 
ington, President Lincoln determined to send him 
supplies, and at the beginning of April a number 
of vessels were prepared for the purpose. Before 
this could be accomplished, however, Major Anderson 
was notified that if he should not surrender before 
the twelfth of April, fire would be opened upon him 
from batteries erected on Sullivan's Island, and 
at the designated hour the thunder of cannon and 
the crashing of shot in the fort, announced that war 
had begun. After having borne the cannonading 
thirty-four hours, Anderson was obliged to lower 
his flag. He surrendered with the honors of war, 
and sailed for New York with his little force.* 

On the fifteenth, President Lincoln issued a proc- 
lamation convening Congress on the Fourth of July, 
and calling out the militia to the number of seventy- 
five thousand, to " repossess the forts, places and 
property which have been seized from the Union," 
announcing that " the utmost care will be observed, 
consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any 
devastation, any destruction of or interference with 
property, or any disturbance of peaceable citizens in 
any part of the country." War, on the part of the 
Federal Government, was to be prosecuted simply 
for the preservation of the Union intact, and the 

* During the bombardment, the wooden barracks had several times 
been set on fire by exploding shells, and much of the powder in the 
magazine was thrown into the sea for safety. Before the brave band 
surrendered the smoke was so dense that the gunners could not see to 
aim. 



THE PRESIDENT'S PURPOSES 513 

protection of the property that the President under 
the Constitution had sworn to keep. On the other 
-hand stands the declaration of the Confederate Secre- 
tary of War, General Leroy Pope Walker, who said, 
on receiving the news of the attack on Sumter, 
that before the first of May the Confederate flag 
would float over Washington, and might ultimately 
float over Faneuil Hall itself ; and that utterance of a 
Mobile paper : " We are prepared to fight, and the 
enemy is not. Now is the time for action, while he is 
yet unprepared. Let a hundred thousand men, with 
such arms as they can snatch, get over the border as 
quickly as they can. Let a division enter every North- 
ern border State." 

President Lincoln's call met an immediate response 
that surprised even those most firmly fixed in faith in 
the loyalty of the North to the Union. On the evening 
of the following day, several Pennsylvania companies 
had reached Washington, and on the afternoon of the 
seventeenth, the first full regiment to respond — the 
Sixth Massachusetts — started from Boston and 
reached Baltimore on the nineteenth, * where they 
wore attacked by a mob, three being killed and four 
severely wounded. Ten Pennsylvania companies, that 
were in the same train, were obliged to return, after 
having resisted a determined attack in which several 
of them lost their lives. After this, soldiers were sent 
to Washington by the way of Annapolis. 

The news which thus aroused the North, led to the 
secession of four more States ; Arkansas, North Caro- 
lina, Tennessee and Virginia, and about one fourth of 

* The anniversary of the battle of Lexington, which had stirred the 
patriotic fire of the Fathers. 



514 WAR FOR UNION. 

all the officers then in the service of the United States, 
resigned their commissions and united ttieir fortunes 
with the South. A great cry arose in the South, " On 
to Washington ! " in pursuance of the announced 
intention of President Davis to carry war and the torch 
into the thickly settled territory of the North. * 

This was echoed by the Northern demand that the 
army of the Union should rush "on to Richmond!" 
but in spite of the constant reiteration of the cry by 
the press, President Lincoln and his advisers seemed 
to be determined to carry out the plan of simple 
defence. On the nineteenth of April, Lincoln declared 
the blockade of all ports in the seceding States, and 
in spite of the fact that the vessels of the navy had 
been dispersed throughout the world by Secretary 
Floyd, the blockade was soon (by May ist) made effec- 
tive, and vessels were provided to act on the Missis- 
sippi, the opening of which was of the greatest impor- 
tance. 

The first great battle of the war was fought at 
Manassas Junction,! on the twenty-first of July. 
Some forty thousand men were engaged, about equally 
divided. The Union forces were driven from the field 
after a brave resistance and retreated in great confu- 
sion to Washington. The effect in the South was 
disastrous, for it led to the return home of large num- 
bers of volunteers, who supposed the struggle over. 

* A year before the war broke out, ex-President Pierce wrote to 
Jefferson Davis, that if "that dire calamity" should come, the fighting 
would not be " along Mason and Dixon's line merely, but within our 
own borders," between the class of citizens who supported slavery and 
those who did not. 

t This is known as the battle of Bull Run, from a small stream near 
which it was fought. 



THE EFFEl 7 F B ill I; i v ;, i ;, 

In the North it led to a call for five hundred thousand 
men, and to a renewed determination to carry the war 
forward with vigor. General Scott gave wayto George 
B. McClellan,* a young officer of considerable repute, 
who continued at the head of the army of the Potomac 
until November 7, 1862, when he was ordered to 
Trenton, N. J., to await orders. 

The South now thought that the question of " Man- 
hood " waffforever settled as between the North and 
the South, and that it was proved that " one South- 
erner was equal to five Yankees," as had before been 
confidently said. Mr. Pollard says, " The South 
reposed on its laurels;" politicians began to plot for 
the succession for the Presidency, at the election then 
still six years ahead ; Nashville appropriated three 
quarters of a million dollars to erect a Presidential 
mansion, only to be disappointed. " There is no more 
remarkable phenomenon," continues Mr. Pollard, " in 
the whole history of the war, than the display of fully 
awaked Northern energy in it, alike wonderful in the 
ingenuity of its expedients and in the concentrated 
force of its action." 

On the twenty-first of October a desperate fight 
occurred at Ball's Bluff, on the Potomac, resulting in 

* deorge B. McClellan, a native of Philadelphia, was born December 
3, 1X26, and graduated at West Point at the age of twenty. He served 
in the Mexican War, and in 1857, was sent by the Government to 
observe the military systems of Europe at the time of the Crimean 
War. In 1S57, he resigned his commission, and became chief engineer 
of the Illinois Central Railway Company. In May, 1861, he took 
command of the forces in West Virginia, and after the battle of Bull 
Run, was, at the suggestion of General Scott, placed at the head of 
the army at Washington. In August, TS64, ho was the Democratic 
candidate for the Presidency, but received only twenty-one electoral 
votes at the election. 



516 WAR FOR UNION. 

the death of a brave officer, Colonel E. D. Baker and 
the loss of a large number of men. During the summer 
and autumn, Missouri was the scene of severe fight- 
ing by troops under Generals Lyon, Fremont and 
others, and during the campaign Fremont issued a 
proclamation of emancipation, which President Lin- 
coln nullified, as contravening his plans and the ex- 
pressions of his inaugural address.* 

The Confederates fitted out privateers, authorized 
by letters of marque to make depredations on Ameri- 
can commerce, and Captain Raphael Semmes, in the 
Sumter and the Alabama, destroyed many Union 
vessels and millions of property. England gave 
Semmes and other Confederate officers countenance, 
thus infringing the "neutrality" she professed, and 
it was for this that she afterwards paid our Govern- 
ment the sum of fifteen million, five hundred thousand 
dollars. 

During the year the Confederate Government 
appointed James M. Mason and John Slidellf commis- 
sioners to England and France. They ran the 
blockade from Charleston, and sailed from Havana to 
England in the British steamer Trent; but on the pas- 

* Later, when Cameron, Secretary of War, suggested arming the 
blacks, President Lincoln objected, and later still, when General 
Hunter attempted military emancipation, he still resisted, thinking 
that it was not as he said, an " indispensable necessity." 

t Mason, a native of Fairfax Co., Va., born about 1798, became a 
member of Congress in 1837, and ten years later a Senator. In 1850 
he was author of the Fugitive Slave Law. He remained abroad 
throughout the war, and died in 187 1. Slidell, a native of New York, was 
born in 1793, and removed to New Orleans, where he was elected to 
Congress in 1843. He was appointed Minister to Mexico in 1S45, an( ^ 
in 1853 was chosen member of the United States Senate, from which 
he withdrew in 1861. 



'/// /•; //.' /•; v r . i ffa ib. 5 1 7 

sage encountered an American war steamer, the San 
Jacinto y the commander of which, Captain Charles 
Wilkes, took the commissioners and their secretaries 
from the Trait, and instead of seizing the vessel as a 
prize, as he had a right to do under the Queen's 
proclamation of neutrality, and the general laws of the 
seas, permitted it to complete the voyage. The Eng- 
lish government promptly demanded redress and 
sent troops to Canada as if in threat of war. Mr. 
Seward found it convenient to avert war, on the 
ground that Captain Wilkes had decided questions 
himself that should have been passed upon by a prize 
court, and the prisoners were sent to England on a 
British man-of-war from Provincetown, at the end of 
Cape Cod. 

The second year of the war, 1862, was devoted to 
efforts to open the Mississippi to re-gain the fortifi- 
cations on the seacoast, to enforce the blockade, and 
to capture the Capitol of the Confederacy, which had 
been removed from Montgomery to Richmond, 
Vu., in July, 1861. The opposing forces counted 
about eight hundred thousand men, of which there 
were in the Union army about four hundred and fifty 
thousand. The chief engagements of the year were 
the following : Colonel Garfield and General Thomas 
met the Confederates in January, in Eastern Ken- 
tucky, and defeated them with great losses on both 
sides. Commodore Foote forced the Confederates 
from Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, near the Ken- 
tucky line, and they took refuge in Fort Donelson, 
which they were obliged to surrender with fifteen 
thousand men, February 16th. It was on this occa- 
sion that Grant used the words " unconditional sur- 



518 



WAB FOR UNION. 



render," and, " I propose to move immediately on your 
works," in response to the inquiry from General 
Buckner, who, after Generals Pillow, Forrest and 
Floyd had retired to places of safety, had asked Grant 




THE HOUSE OF JOHN G. WHITTIER. 

upon what terms he would accept capitulation. Grant 
then became commander of a new department, called 
Western Tennessee. On the sixth of April he was 
attacked by Generals Beauregard and Johnston, with 
an army of forty thousand men, and was defeated 
with great slaughter, losing three thousand prisoners 
and much material. The next day, however, he 
renewed the battle, having received reinforcements 



THE MISSISSIPPI OPENED. f>19 

undei Buell, and forced the Confederates to retreat to 
Corinth under Beauregard, General Johnston having 
been killed. The loss during the two days amounted 
to ten thousand on each side. This is known as the 
battle of Pittsburgh Landing, from the place on the 
river near Shiloh church.* The same day, General 
Pope and Commodore Foote, by cutting a canal, 
caused the surrender of Island No. 10, on the Missis- 
sippi (after a bombardment of three weeks), with eight 
thousand men. On the sixth of June Memphis was 
taken, and the river was open as far down as 
Vicksburg. 

In the meantime, Admirals Farragut and Porter, 
and General Butler, were endeavoring- to enter the 
mouth of the Mississippi. The fleet bombarded 
Forts Jaekson and St. Philip, seventy miles below 
Xew Orleans, from the eighteenth to the twenty- 
fourth of April, and then, having apparently done 
them little harm, Admiral Farragut performed the 
perilous feat of breaking the chain across the river 
and passing the forts with his fleet. Leaving Admiral 
Porter to continue the siege, he proceeded up the 
river, destroying all but one of the gunboats that 
protected it, and capturing the city, of which General 
Butler became commandant May ist. The forts 
surrendered to Admiral Porter April 28th. Farragut 
proceeded up the river, capturing Baton Rouge and 
Natchez, passing Vicksburg and joining the fleet 
above, June 28th. 

In the East, a new sort of naval warfare began in 

* The weather at the time was intensely cold, and the sufferings of 
the Confederate soldiers, as related by those who witnessed them, 
remind one of the trials of out fathers at Valley Forge. The prison- 
ers were sent to Camp Douglas, near Chicago. 



520 WAR FOR UNION. 

March. The Confederates had made an iron-clad 
vessel of the United States steam frigate Cumberland, 
which they called the Virginia. On the second of 
March it advanced upon the five men-of-war in 
Hampton Roads, striking the Cumberland first with 
its prow, and sinking it with all its men and ammuni- 
tion. 

There was great consternation at Fortress Mon- 
roe that night after the Virginia had withdrawn, 
but when it returned the next morning, to complete 
what it considered an easy victory, it encountered 
a new sort of vessel, — Captain Ericsson's Monitor, 
upon which it could make no impression. The 
Virginia retired and did no further damage, being 
blown up by the Confederates upon the surrender of 
Norfolk, May nth. 

The army of the Potomac had been gradually organ- 
izing under General McClellan, and early in the spring 
began a series of operations which included some of 
the severest battles of the war. After taking Wil- 
liamsburgh in May, General McClellan advanced until 
he was able to see the spires of the Richmond 
churches. In this region occurred the battles of Fair 
Oaks, May 31, which was a Union victory, but after it 
McClellan determined to change his base, and was 
involved in a series of struggles, which ended July 
1st, with the battle of Malvern Hill, and left the 
advantage with the Confederates.* This emboldened 
General Lee to enter Maryland. He crossed the 

* McClellan could have marched into Richmond without serious 
impediment . . . but instead . . . the extraordinary spectacle was 
presented of both armies in full retreat. — The Great Rebellion, its 
secret History, John Minor Botts. Page 293. 



ANTIETAM. 521 

Potomac, capturing Frederick,* September 6. On 
the fifteenth, Stonewall Jackson captured Harper's 
Ferry, with nearly twelve thousand men ; but the 
Confederates had been defeated the previous day at 
South Mountain, and Lee took up his position near 
Sharpesburgh, in the Antietam Valley, where he was 
opposed by a large Federal army, and a battle ensued 
September 17, resulting in losses of some twenty-five 
thousand men, with advantage to neither side, though 
Lee was obliged to retreat into Virginia. General 
McClellan was relieved of command, November 10, 
and General Burnside f took his place. The new 
commander did not try to follow the plans of the old. 
Advancing upon Fredericksburgh, he assaulted it, but 
was repulsed with great loss. He was superseded by 
General I looker, January 26, 1863. 

After the battle of Antietam, President Lincoln 
made up his mind that the necessities of war de- 
manded a blow at the labor system of the South, and 
he issued a proclamation, declaring that after the first 
day of January, 1863, all persons held in servitude in 
States, or parts of States, which should then be in 

*Upon an incident related of this capture, which has since been 
provi d apo( hryphal, Mr. Whittier, the Quaker poet, based his verses 
entitled " Barbara Frietchie." 

t Ambrose Everett Burnside, born in Indiana, in 1824, graduated at 
West Point, in iS (7 , bul resigned from the army in 1853. '" '86i he 
commanded a brigade at Hull Run, and was appointed Brigadier- 
General in August. In 1862 he directed the expedition that captured 
Roanoake Island, and after taking Newbern, in March, was made 
Major-General. In July he removed his army to the fames to ree'n- 
force McClellan. He distinguished himself at Antietam. lie subse- 
quently operated in the West, and fought under Grant during the 
battles in the wilderness. Before his death he was chosen Governor 
of Rhode Island, in which State he was much respected. 



522 WAR FOR UNION. 

rebellion, should be free. When the appointed time 
arrived, he issued another proclamation defining the 
territory in which the slaves were to be freed, which 
included all of the slave States. Within a year more 
than fifty thousand negroes had enlisted in the armies 
of the Union. The Confederates had already accepted 
their services in their armies.* 

General Hooker found that his first duty was 
to establish the discipline of the army, which had 
become greatly demoralized. He then advanced, and 
was met at Chancellorsville, by the Confederates, and 
through the impetuous bravery of General Thomas 
Jonathan Jackson, known as " Stonewall Jackson," 
defeated May 3, after a battle lasting two days, with a 
loss of seventeen thousand men. Jackson was mor- 
tally wounded. Hooker was superseded by General 
George G. Meade. 

Early in 1863, Congress passed a Conscription Bill, 
under which men were drafted to be sent to the army. 
The rich were able to purchase substitutes, and the 
poorer classes were much dissatisfied. There were 
other causes which led to restlessness in the North, 
and the Emancipation Proclamation had strengthened 
the South in its adherence to the war. General 
Lee took this opportunity to invade the North, and 
his act united all who had there opposed the vigorous 
prosecution of the war. He crossed the Potomac 
with his entire army, the first week in June, and 
entered Chambersburg on the twenty-second. On 
the first of July he met the Federal advance at 
Gettysburg, where there ensued a desperate battle 

* The man who fights for the country is entitled to vote. — Thomas 
Jefferson. 



QETTY8BUBQ AM> FICKSBURQ. 523 

lasting three days, and resulting in the defeat of the 
Confederates, who were forced to retreat with a 
loss of thirty-six thousand men. The Union army 
lost twenty-three thousand. This was the decisive 
battle of the war, and one of the most brilliant ; but 
the fact was not immediately appreciated. The popu- 
lar dissatisfaction did not grow less, and ten days later 
the "draft riots" broke out in New York, which were 
only quelled by General Wool, with the aid of some 
of the veterans from Gettysburg, and the Metropoli- 
tan police.* 

In the West, General Grant was making himself 
felt at Vicksburg. He had cut off the communica- 
tions of the city and tried to take it by storm, but 
without success. He then laid siege to it, and 
though it held out manfully, it was obliged to sur- 
render on the fourth of July, 1863, with more than 
thirty-one thousand men and one hundred and 
seventy-two cannon. No surrender of equal magni- 
tude had ever been made in the history of war, 
though it has been surpassed in Europe since. In 
this remarkable campaign General Grant showed the 
promptness, pertinacity and accurate judgment which 
have made his name famous. On the eleventh of 
May, General Halleck had telegraphed to Grant 
orders to join Banks below Vicksburg, but happily, 
communication was cut off, and the despatch did 
not reach its destination. Had it been received the 
campaign would have resulted in disaster. Pemberton 
was under orders both from General Johnston and 

* West Virginia, consisting of the loyal portion of the Old Dominion, 

which had formed a provisional government in 1861, was admitted to 
the Union June 20, 1S63. 



524 WAR FOR UNION. 

President Davis, and the fact gave uncertainty to his 
movements, while Grant, depending upon his own 
judgment, made clear plans, and carried them out. 
His master strategy was shown in his attack of 
the strong place from the rear. The beseiged army 
was reduced to the most frightful extremities. The 
soldiers complained that their rations were cut down 
to " one biscuit and a small bit of bacon a day," and 
they called upon General Pemberton (June 28) to sur- 
render, "horrible as the idea is/' threatening to desert 
or mutiny if he should not.* Four days later, Port 
Hudson surrendered to General Banks, after a siege 
of long continuance. In July, General John H. 
Morgan, with four thousand cavalry, made a raid 
into Indiana, and after passing from Sparta, Tenn., 
through Kentucky, sacking Columbia, and destroying 
as he went, he entered Indiana, at Brandenburg, and 
turned towards Cincinnati, tearing up railways, burn- 
ing bridges and mills, and seizing much property. 
His army grew smaller and smaller, and he was 
forced to fly for safety, but was followed and captured 
at New Lisbon, and confined in the penitentiary at 
Columbus, whence he made his escape in November. 
Towards the end of June, General Rosecrans began 
the campaign of Eastern Tennessee, which was finally 
closed by General Grant. He drove the Confederates 
from Middle Tennessee, and over the Cumberland 
Mountains, under Bragg. They fell back to Chatta- 
nooga, and when Rosecrans' army was divided, attacked 
him at Chickamauga, on the nineteenth of September. 
The battle lasted all day, with no advantage to either 

* See "The Mississippi," in the "Campaigns of the Civil War" 
series, by Francis Vinton Greene. New York, 1SS3. 




LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 



CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 527 

side, but it began again the next morning, and resulted 
in a Confederate gain, for Rosecrans was foreed to 
fall back to Chattanooga, which he fortified. There 
he was besieged for two months by Bragg, when 
he was superseded by Grant, who was joined by 
Sherman on the fifteenth of November. General 
Hooker also arrived from Virginia to take part in 
the decisive battles that were to follow on a field 
thirteen miles in length. On the twenty-fourth of 
November, Hooker advanced up Lookout Mountain, 
in the face of great difficulties, forcing the Confed- 
erates from their positions, and the next morning 
he moved down, driving them from the Chattanooga 
Valley. At the same time Sherman had crossed the 
Tennessee River, and taken possession of the north 
end of Missionary Ridge. The morning of the 
twenty-fifth, Sherman pushed forward, and assisted 
by Thomas and Sheridan, pushed the Confederates 
under Bragg from their positions. By evening they 
were routed. The next day was a day of thanks- 
giving. Burnside had been shut up at Knoxville, and 
now Sherman pushed on to his relief. But before he 
could arrive there, he heard that Longstreet had been 
repulsed, and was in full retreat towards Virginia. 

Early in the new year, General Sherman received 
orders to destroy the railroads centring at Meri- 
dian, Miss., and he carried them out so successfully 
that the Confederates were prevented from moving 
large bodies of men in the State, or of drawing sup- 
plies from it. He left Vicksburg on the third of Feb- 
ruary, and was back again followed by crowds of negro 
fugitives, on the twentieth. In the meantime he had 
destroyed railway-stations, machine-shops and bridges 



528 WAR FOR UNION. 

and had twisted the rails in such a manner that they 
could not be used again. It was a heavy blow to the 
Confederates. : 

Following this stroke came the revival of the grade 
of lieutenant-general in the army, which had been 
borne by Washington, and, by brevet, by Scott. 
It was conferred upon Grant, who was thus (March 9) 
placed at the head of all the armies. Taking a month 
to determine his plans, and consulting Sherman, Grant 
determined upon two general simultaneous movements, 
to which all others were to be subordinate. Sherman 
was to march against Atlanta, then defended by Gen- 
eral Joseph E. Johnston, and the army of the Potomac 
under Meade and Grant, was to operate against the 
army of Northern Virginia, under General Robert E. 
Lee. After severe fighting, both of these plans 
proved successful. Meade broke camp on the third 
of May, and began his march to Richmond, entering 
"the Wilderness," where every obstacle had been 
placed in his way.f He was attacked by the enemy, 
and fearful struggles occurred on the fifth, sixth, 
seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth, the 
Federals gaining some ground at great loss. Hancock 
captured General Edward Johnson, and three thousand 
men, among whom was General George H. Stewart. 

* Sherman destroyed one hundred and fifty miles of railroad, sixty- 
seven bridges, seven hundred trestles, twenty locomotives, twenty-eight 
cars, several thousand bales of cotton, several steam mills, and over 
two million bushels of corn. 

t The Wilderness is a region of thick woods to the south of Chancel- 
lursville. The country is more open towards Fredericksburg, which 
lies to the east. The old " Wilderness Tavern," the headquarters of 
Meade, near the middle of the desolate region, was the scene of the 
battle of May 5th. Spottsylvania Court House lies further South. 



IX THE WILDERNE8S. .".-JO 

At the same time General Sheridan was destroying 
the railways in the rear of Lee, and endeavoring 
to cut oil his connection with Richmond. During 
this dash he encountered General J. E. B. Stuart, who 
was killed. Sheridan rejoined Grant May 25. 

It was alter the battle of Spottsylvania Court House 
(May 9-12) that Grant telegraphed that he proposed 
to "fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." 
It took much longer than "all summer," but still 
Grant persevered. 

While these operations were going on, there was 
active work in the valley of the Shenandoah, where 
General Sigel was operating against General Brecken- 
ridge. He was routed May 15, and his command 
transferred to General Hunter, who gained a victory 
at Piedmont, but was afterwards obliged to retreat to 
West Virginia, when General Early was sent to invade 
Maryland and threaten Washington. Early crossed 
the Potomac, July 5, with twenty-thousand men, but 
was repulsed at the battle of Monocacy, July 9, by 
General Lewis Wallace, and retreated to Baltimore, 
where he was received with acclamations by those 
who sympathized with the Confederate cause. He 
proceeded towards Washington, which was in great 
danger, but he was finally forced to retreat across 
the Potomac, July 12. He was pursued, and again 
defeated at Winchester, but he rallied and entered 
Pennsylvania at Chambersburg, which he offered to 
spare for half a million dollars. This the inhabitants 
refused, and the soldiers rifled the houses of all they 
could carry, and set the town on fire. Sheridan was 
then sent to oppose Early, and defeated him Septem- 
ber 19, on Opequam Creek. The valley was devas- 



."..ill WAR FOB UNION. 

tated by both armies. After receiving reinforcements, 
Early returned, and surprised Sheridan's army at 
Winchester. Sheridan, * who was absent, arrived at 
the front in time to change a rout to a victory, and 
sent Early permanently from the valley, October 19. 








I^g^^^f^f 



PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA. 

Mr. Pollard, the historian of " The Lost Cause," 
thinks that when Sheridan had made the supremacy 
of the Union arms in the valley a fixed fact, the way 
in which the long struggle was to terminate was 
decided, though Northern writers have considered that 
Vicksburg or Gettysburg was the decisive battle. 
Grant's first intention had been to make General W. 
B. Franklin commander in this campaign, and after 

* Philip Henry Sheridan, a native of Ohio, was born March 6, iS^r. 
graduated at West Point in 1S53. His first duty was in Texas, after and 
which, in 1855, he was sent to Oregon, where he remained until 1861, 
when he was appointed quartermaster in Missouri. He was in the 
battle of Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862, and for his service on that occa- 
sion was made major-general of volunteers. He was engaged in the 
battle of Chickamauga. His subsequent service was in connection 
with the army of the Potomac. March 4, 1869, he was made major- 
general of the regular army. 



THE MARCH TO THE SEA, 531 

him he had selected General Meade, before appointing 
Sheridan. 

Meanwhile Sherman had begun his operations in 
the West, moving from Chattanooga, May y, arriving 
near Atlanta July 17. Johnston had retired his 
forces within the fortifications of Atlanta, but was on 
the seventeenth succeeded by General Hood, who on 
the twentieth, made a sally from the works. He was 
repulsed, and Sherman began a siege which soon 
showed Hood that he was out generaled. He there- 
fore destroyed all his material that he could, and 
began a retreat September 1st. General Grant wrote 
to Sherman, " I feel that you have performed the 
most gigantic undertaking given to any general 
in this war, and with a skill and ability that will be 
acknowledged in history as unsurpassed, if not 
unequalled." President Lincoln also wrote a letter 
of thanks. Sherman saw that Hood was capable of 
doing a great deal of harm with his army of forty 
thousand with which he had retreated into Tennessee, 
expecting to be followed, and he sent Thomas to take 
care of him, while he removed all families from 
Atlanta, making it a military post, and then set out 
on his " March to the sea," November 15. He 
moved in four columns, subsisting upon the country, 
and destroying the railways as he went, and arrived 
at Savannah, December 10. On the twentieth, 
General Hardee, with fifteen thousand men, escaped 
from Savannah, and retreated to Charleston. On the 
twenty-second, General Sherman established his 
headquarters at Savannah, having lost less than six 
hundred men on his march from Atlanta. 

Hood, marching towards Tennessee, arrived at 



532 WAR FOR UNION. 

Franklin, near Nashville, November 30, and attacked 
the forces of General Thomas Schofield which had 
retreated from the southern part of the State. Scho- 
field held the Confederates in check, and after a 
severe engagement, retreated to Nashville, where 
Thomas's forces were concentrated. Hood intended 
to drive Thomas from this place, and began to make 
intrenchments about it, but before he was ready to 
begin the siege, Thomas fell upon him, and routed 
his forces, with a loss of twenty-five thousand men. 
He was then pursued until he reached Alabama, 
when he was relieved of his command.* 

In August, Commodore Farragut brought his 
squadron to bear upon the fortifications of Mobile, 
and passing the forts, dispersed the Confederate 
vessels, captured the forts and effectually sealed up 
the harbor, after a fierce conflict with the ram Ten- 
nessee. The Confederates had then but one seaport, 
Wilmington, N. C, commanded by Fort Fisher, 
which was of great strength. Admiral Porter and 
General Butler were sent to take this stronghold, in 
December, but General Weitzel, who was sent to 
storm it, decided that it was almost impregnable, 
and Butler abandoned the effort. Porter did not 
leave the place, however, though Butler's forces were 
taken to Fortress Monroe. In January, 1865, the 
same men were sent back under General Terry, and 
the fort was taken by storm. (January, 15.) 

In the autumn of this year, the election of Presi- 

* The Confederates lost much in the opinion of Europe in 1864, on 
account of the action of their troops under General Forrest, who, on 
the twelfth of April, took Fort Pillow on the Mississippi, and indiscrim- 
inately slaughtered men, women and children after the surrender. It 
has been explained that the officers lost control of the men at this time. 



-/..i I i:i;y ABOLISHED. 533 

dent occurred, resulting in the choice of Abraham 
Lincoln, with Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, as Vice- 
President. Congress met in December following, 
and passed an amendment to the Constitution, for- 
ever abolishing slavery in the United States, using 
the words employed in the Act of 1787, forming the 
Northwestern Territory, and in the " Wilmot 
Proviso." This was ratified by the requisite number 
of States, and became the law of the land. We have 
now reached the last year of the war. It began with 
brightness for the nation, but offered no cheer for the 
Confederates. Sherman rested at Savannah until 
February 1st, 1865, when he took the field again, 
intending to meet Grant, who was before Petersburg. 
He reached Columbia on the morning of the seven- 
teenth, and received its surrender from the Mayor and 
other officers who came out in carriages to offer it. 
General Hardee was in command at Charleston, and 
he now planned to evacuate the city, first destroying 
all the stores, in doing which he destroyed a large 
portion of the city itself. He then escaped, and 
began his march northward. On the morning of the 
eighteenth, the Federal troops learned the condition 
of affairs and entered the city, joining the citizens in 
endeavoring to stay the ravages of the flames. 

Sherman reached Fayetteville March 15, and found 
himself opposed by General Johnston, who had been 
placed in command. Hardee endeavored to stop him 
a few miles north of Fayetteville, but without success 
On the nineteenth, however, he was suddenly attacked 
by Johnston, and in danger of defeat, when the day 
was saved by desperate fighting of the men under 
General Jefferson C. Davis, and he entered Raleigh 



534 WAR FOB UNION. 

April 13, where, thirteen days later, he received the 
surrender of Johnston's army. A portion of the 
intervening time had been spent by the army at 
Goldsboro, in command of General Schofield, who had 
reenforced Sherman. In the meantime, Sherman 
himself went to City Point ( March 27 ), General 
Grant's headquarters before Petersburg, for purposes 
of consultation. Here the two generals met President 
Lincoln, who was specially interested in conversation 
with Sherman about the incidents of his great march. 
The generals were convinced that the end was near, 
and Lincoln was desirous that there should be no 
more battles. 

Could the generals have seen the other side, they 
would have had still greater confidence that the end 
was approaching. The war had become unpopular 
everywhere in the South. Davis was opposed by a 
strong party in his own Congress, and his plans 
thwarted. Supplies were growing less, and the Con- 
federate currency was fast losing all sort of value. 
In 1 861, it was equal to gold, in 1864, it took five 
hundred dollars in curreney to buy one hundred 
dollars in gold ; in March, 1865, it was still lower, and 
in April, Confederate money was valueless. 

Just before the last act, an effort was made by the 
Confederates to treat with the Federal authorities for 
a cessation of hostilities and a submission of the ques- 
tions in dispute to the whole union afterwards. 
President Lincoln and Secretary Seward had a con- 
versation of several hours at Fortress Monroe with 
Alexander H. Stephens, and others, but nothing 
resulted, for President Lincoln was not willing to 
allow hostilities to cease until the Confederates would 



.1 CONFERENl /•:. .,;;; 

disband their armies, abolish slavery and recognize the 
authority of the government.* 

Grant intended to begin a general attack upon the 
Confederate lines on the twenty-ninth of March, but 
on the twenty-fifth, Lee made a desperate attempt to 
breakthrough the Union lines. He effected the cap- 
ture of Fort Steedman, but it was soon retaken, and 
the lines were tightened about Lee. In order to keep 
Lee from escaping to the South, Grant sent Sheridan 
to go to Dinwiddie Court House and cut the railroad. 
Lee saw that this was a dangerous move for his 
safety, and gathered all the men he could muster to 
resist Sheridan. Sheridan met the enemy at Five 
Forks, and was driven back. Hut on the morning of 
April first, he advanced again and captured the Con- 
federate works with five thousand men. Grant kept 
up his fire upon Lee in Petersburg, and on the second 
of April, cut his line in two. His men began to fall 
back, and he sent word to Richmond that arrange- 
ments must be made to leave the city at eight o'clock 
that evening. At daylight the next morning, the 
Union skirmishes discovered that the Confederate 
works were empty, and soon the Union flag was 
waving over Petersburg. Lee's message reached 
Davis while he was in church, and he gave the con- 
gregation cause for wonder by rising and leaving the 
building. That night preparations for evacuation 

* During this conversation, the Confederate Secretary of State brought 
up the case of the correspondence between Charles the First, and the 
Parliament, as offering a precedent for the negotiations he wished to 
carry on. To this Mr. Lincoln replied, " Upon matters of history, I 
must refer you to Mr. Seward, for he is posted on such tilings, and I 
don't profess to be ; my only distinct recollection of the matter is that 
Charles lost his head." 



538 WAR FOR UNION. 

were made on every hand. Everywhere confusion 
reigned. Soldiers became thieves, and thieves took 
advantage of the opportunity to pillage. The author- 
ities directed that the tobacco warehouses should be 
fired. The rams in the river were blown up; the 
bridges were soon wrapt in flames, and morning broke 
upon a scene of the -direst desolation. Early Monday 
morning the Confederate forces were marching south- 
ward, leaving the city in flames behind them. General 
Weitzel sent a squad of Massachusetts cavalry to take 
possession, and during the day the flames were under 
control, and private property was carefully guarded. 
Lee retreated towards Lynchburg, but was intercepted 
by Sheridan, and on the ninth surrendered his entire 
army to General Grant. The two commanders met 
at the house of Wilmer McLean, near Appomattox 
Court House, and there the terms were signed, and 
at half-past three in the afternoon, Lee returned to 
his headquarters. 

The people of the United States felt that now the 
war was over. Secretary Stanton ordered salutes to 
be fired at every fort and arsenal of the United States, 
and telegraphed to Grant — " Thanks be to Almighty 
God, for the great victory with which he has this day 
crowned you and the gallant armies under your com- 
mand. The thanks of this department, and of the 
government, and of the people of the United States — 
their reverence and honor have been deserved — will 
be rendered to you and the brave and gallant officers 
and soldiers of your army for all time." 

The joy was to be soon followed by sadness, for five 
days later the gentle and loved President was struck 
down by the hand of an assassin. He had twice 



THE PRESIDENTS DEATH. 



539 



visited Richmond after its evacuation, and had been 
warned that he risked his life by such exposure; but 
he had confidence in the kindliness of his motives, and 
he preferred to trust the people. He was killed while 
sitting in a box at Ford's Theatre, Washington, by John 
Wilkes Booth, who placed a pistol close to his head 




RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, AND THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 



and fired, escaping in the confusion, and shouting, 
" Sic semper tyrannis ! The South is avenged ! " 
Secretary Seward was attacked at his house, while 



540 WAR FOR UNION. 

lying in bed, and stabbed, but the wounds did not prove 
fatal. Andrew Johnson immediately became Presi- 
dent. 

After Sherman entered Raleigh, he received a mes- 
sage from General Johnston, asking a suspension of 
hostilities for the purpose of negotiating for peace. He 
offered the same terms that Grant had offered Lee,* and 
on the twenty-sixth, the t wo generals met at a small farm- 
house near Hillsborough, where the terms of surrender 
were signed. On the fourth of May, the Confederate 
forces in Alabama were surrendered by General Tay- 
lor to General Canby ; and on the twenty-sixth, the 
army over the Mississippi was surrendered by General 
E. Kirby Smith ; but the flag was still kept at the 
head of the ship Shenanadoah until November. The 
last battle was fought on the Rio Grande, and in it 
the Confederates were victorious. 

After leaving Richmond, President Davis still hoped 
to keep up the struggle, evidently feeling that, having 
lost the affections of the Southern people, he could 
hope for no mercy at the hands of the government, 
and issued a proclamation from Danville, April 5th, 
calling on the Confederates not to despond, but to 
continue to fight as long as there remained a foot of 
soil to be contended for, and to " meet the foe with 
fresh defiance, and with unconquered and unconquer- 
able hearts." Soon the news of Lee's surrender 
reached him, however, and he took to flight, hoping 
to cross the Mississippi, and under protection of Kirby 

* More liberal terms had been demanded by Johnston, and at a 
meeting held on the eighteenth, they had been signed and sent to 
Washington for approval. They were rejected, and General Grant 
was sent to General Sherman's headquarters to " direct operations 
against the enemy." 



JEFFERSON "DAVIS CAPTURED. 541 

Smith, to escape by sea. He was not successful, being 
arrested early in the morning of May ioth, near 
Irwinsville, Ga., * and taken to Fortress Monroe, 
where he was confined until May, 1867, I" Decem- 
ber, 1868, he was pardoned, with many others. 

Thus ended the greatest Civil War of all time, which 
had cost the people more than half a million lives and 
six thousand million dollars. It left many questions 
to be determined, regarding the status of the citizens 
who had endeavored to overthrow the government, 
and the mode of government of the States that had 
been at war with the Union. 

The effect of the war on the North and the South 
demands attention. The North had always supplied 
not only itself, but the South and portions of the rest 
of the world with manufactured goods ; and, its ports 
being open, it was still able to import foreign necessa- 
ries and luxuries. Trade and manufactures prospered, 
and many fortunes were made as the war progressed, 
by men who furnished supplies or were interested in 
transportation. The people felt the losses of their 
brothers who were sacrificed in battle, but they saw 
no actual fighting, and to many the war was some- 
thing of which they had read only. 

The South showed a far different picture. There 
the comforts of life were not readily obtained. It 

*The circumstances of this arrest have been differently stated. In 
a letter to the author, Mr. Caspar Knobel of Philadelphia, then of the 
Fourth Michigan Cavalry, encloses a detailed account of the affair. 
Mr. Knobel states that he was himself the first to enter the tent of the 
fallen chief; that he found him asleep and captured him without resist- 
ance, and so quietly that his staff officers in the adjoining tent were 
not disturbed until arrested themselves. The signal shot announcing 
the capture, drew a heavy fire from a part of the Firsl Wisconsin Cav- 
alry, which was on the same (past, by which one man was killed. 



542 WAR FOB UNION. 

was cut off by the blockade from the productions of 
the rest of the world, and the manufactures of the 
North could not be purchased. The soldiers mainly 
came from warmer regions to fight where it was cold, 
and they found it impossible to protect themselves 
from the inclemency of the weather. Their shoes, 
blankets, socks, and hats were poor and became 
poorer as the war wore on. Even the rich were at 
last obliged to dress in homespun, and the furs of 
animals were sometimes used instead of wool, as it 
grew scarce. The supply of leather failed, and cov- 
erings for the feet were made of felt and other sub- 
stances ; even shoes of wood were made at Raleigh, 
N. C. The supply of paper was insufficient for the 
purposes of correspondence, and of printing. Letters 
were written on scraps of wall-paper, or wrapping paper, 
and books were printed and bound with the same. 
Envelopes were turned and used more than once. 
Carpets and heavy window curtains were stripped 
from houses to be made into clothes for the soldiers, 
and the prized brass fenders and andirons were given 
to the founder to be made into cannon. Add to these 
facts the gradual draining of the South of its able- 
bodied men ; picture the condition of the women, left 
alone in their homes, with only the young children 
and the helpless aged men, liable to hear the sound of 
the drum, or the roar of the cannon, or even to find 
their homes surrounded by soldiers of one army or 
the other ; to see their houses pillaged* or burned, and 
themselves at the mercy of a soldiery not always con- 

* Sometimes the same house was pillaged by soldiers of both armies 
in succession, as the writer lias learned from those who had experi- 
enced the double misery. 



THE SOUTH DURING THE WAR. 543 

trollable, and we get some impression of the terrible 
odds which the people of the South were obliged to 
face as they pressed on in the struggle with a rich and 
powerful antagonist. The wonder is that their leaders 
were able to keep them from irresistible demands 
for peace at any price. They did not make any such 
demands, but, on the contrary, with one accord, men, 
women and children, united to support the constantly 
increasing burden of debt and misery, in the vain 
hope of victory. 

They see now that union is safety, and that the 
prosperity of the different sections of the American 
nation is bound up in the prosperity of the whole ; 
that they are all stronger, happier and more respected 
by the other nations of the world united than they 
ever could be separated. The sentiments of a huge 
proportion of men in the South are expressed in the 
following words printed in a Southern journal at the 
time of writing. "Greatness or goodness," says the 
editor, " is not confined to any locality, and only the 
ignorant and self-conceited fail to recognize in the 
States of the North all the elements of a great people ; 
not without faults or the frailties of mankind, but a 
people worthy of their ancestry, whose history fills 
the greater portion of the records of progress in the 
New World. We are just as proud of our own sunny 
land and its glorious history down to Appomattox, 
from John Smith and Pocahontas and Lord Baltimore 
down to Sumter and Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. 
Lee. We are proud of our statesmen and other great 
names, but none the less of Daniel Webster and John 
Adams. He is no full-blooded American who devotes 
his love of courttry to less than the whole continent." 



544 



1VAB FOB UNION. 



As we continue our investigations after the war, we 
shall see that the nation has grown rapidly in all that 
constitutes the greatness of a people, and, that being- 
one, it commands the respect of those nations that 
least liked to give it. 

I hear even now the infinite fierce chorus, 

The cries of agony, the endless groan, 
Which, through the ages that have gone before us, 

In long reverberations reach our own. 

Down the dark future, through long generations, 
The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease ; 

And, like a bell, with solemn sweet vibrations, 

i hear once more the voice of Christ say " Peace ! " 

— Longfellow. 




CHAPTFR XXV. 

THE NEW ERA OF PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL LIFE. 

AT the close of the great war, the army of nearly 
a million men was disbanded, and returned to 
the avocations of peace without causing any disturb- 
ance in the social or political arrangements of the 
country, leaving to the nation as its most important 
duty, the reconstruction of the governments in the 
late Confederate States. Congress had passed the 
Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, February 
ist, 1865, by which slavery was abolished and prohib- 
ited in the whole country, and it was ratified by the 
States, thus establishing the principles of the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation as the law of the land. 

President Lincoln had adopted the policy of restor- 
ing the Governments of the South, and under his 
Proclamation of December 8th, 1863, Legislatures 
were organized in Tennessee and Louisiana, though 
Congress did not admit any Senators or Representa- 
tives from these States.* Following this policy of 
conciliation, President Johnson issued a proclamation 
of amnesty, May 29th, and appointed provisional Gov- 

* Andrew Johnson had been appointed Military ( rovernor of Tennes- 
see in March. 1862, and in the spring of 1864, under his orders, State 

and local officers were chosen and the wheels of court government 
oegan to move. 

546 



546 THE NEW Ell A OE NATIONAL LIFE. 

ernors in seven States.* This action was followed by 
a second amnesty proclamation, issued in September, 
pardoning all except the leaders in the Confederate 
cause. 

Congress did not agree with the President, and a 
conflict ensued which led finally to an impeachment 
trial which was begun February 28th, 1868. During 
the excitement, President Johnson made a "progress" 
through the Northern States, accompanied by promi- 
nent persons, ostensibly for the purpose of being 
present at the laying of the corner-stone of a monu- 
ment to Senator Douglas at Chicago. He made 
speeches in the principal cities through which he 
passed, both going and returning, in support of his 
policy, and in denunciation of Congress, the effect of 
which was, that Congress was sustained at the follow- 
ing elections by increased majorities, and the Presi- 
dent lost ground, but not confidence in his own views. 
Congress held that the seceding States were actually 
out of the Union, and that it only had power to re- 
admit them ; while the President held that no State 
could go out of the Union, and that the acts of Congress 
towards the late Confederate States were extreme. 
They preferred a military process and he supported 
the civil method of procedure. In March, 1867, 
Congress formed ten of the most important States of 
the South into five military districts, each to be under 
a Governor to be appointed by the President."}" The 
Attorney-General pronounced the measure unconsti- 

* No steps were taken to secure political rights to the Freedmen, 
though Congress wished it. 

t In August, [867, the President issued a proclamation declaring 
that peace, order, and supremacy of law existed throughout the Union. 



THE PRESIDENT IMPEACHED. 547 

tutional, and the President nullified it, though he 
appointed the district Governors. Congress pro 
ceeded, however, to pass other acts,* and to re-or- 
ganize the States according to the plan adopted. In 
pursuance of the plan, the States of Alabama, Arkan- 
sas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and North and 
South Carolina, were admitted to the Union against 
the veto of the President, in June and July, [868. 
While these acts were in process, the President dis- 
missed the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, f 
directing him to turn over his portfolio to General 
Grant, and Congress, on the third of March, agreed 
upon articles of impeachment, which were pre- 
sented to the Senate. On the twenty-sixth of May 
the President was acquitted, but one vote being 
wanted, however, to convict him. 

On the fourth of July, 1868, a pardon was pro- 
claimed to all who had been engaged in the war, and 
were not under indictment for felony or treason, and 
on the following Christmas, a general amnesty was 
declared. On the twenty-eighth of July the Four- 
teenth Amendment of the Constitution became the 
law of the land. It still further emphasized the 
results of the war by decreeing that no State should 
abridge the immunities of its citizens, assume any 

* Among these were those appointing a committee on Reconstruc- 
tion, on the admission of Southern members to the House, increasing 
the power of the Freedman's Bureau, and the Civil Rights A< 1. 

I The first Congress, in 1 7S9, after an earnest discussion, had deter- 
mined that the power of removal rested with the President alone, but 
the " Tenure of Office Act," passed March 2d. [867, provided that there 
should be no removal by the President without the consent of the 
Senate. Mr. Johnson's chief defence in the impeachment trial, was, 
however, that he had merely pursued the plan adopted by Mr. 
Lincoln and his Cabinet. 



548 THE NEW ERA OV NATIONAL LIFE. 

debt of the war against the Union, or pay pensions to 
any who had been engaged in it. It reasserted the 
validity of the public debt,* which at the time was of 
considerable importance, for at the close of the war 
the government found that it owed nearly twenty- 
five hundred million dollars, and was obliged to raise 
annually one hundred and fifty million to pay its 
interest. This caused the taxes assessed on the 
people to press very heavily, and it was only by the 
greatest efforts that bankruptcy was avoided. Up to 
the beginning of the war the government had relied 
for funds upon the import duties, but since that time 
the people have been familiar with income taxes 
( now abolished) and stamp taxes of a great variety of 
kinds, levied on bank checks, ale, beer, cigars, whis- 
key, matches, patent medicines, wines, and numerous 
articles of luxury, many of which we can well bear to 
have taxed. These taxes have since been lightened. 
The year 1866 was notable for the successful solu- 
tion of the problem of ocean telegraphy. The idea 
of this sort of communication occurred to Cyrus W. 
Field, in 1853, and in 1856, a line was constructed of 
one thousand miles, from New York to Newfound- 
land. This was followed by the first attempt to lay 
a cable in the ocean, from the Eastern to the West- 
ern Continent, which, after two failures, in 1857, and 
1858, was successful in July, of the latter year, and 
messages of good-will were exchanged by Queen Vic- 
toria and the President. The cable was effective, 
however, for a few weeks only. In 1865, the Great 

* On the fifth of December, 1865, the House of Representatives 
passed a resolution pledging the faith of the United States for the 
full payment of both principle and interest of the National Debt. 



THE OCEAN TELEGRAPH. 

Eastern began to lay another cable, bin it parted in 
mid-ocean. In June, 1866, another attempt was 
made with success, and the first message was again 
one of peace, being an announcement of the cessa- 
tion of hostilities between Austria and Prussia. Since 
that time there has been constant growth in ocean 
telegraphy, and messages are sent as a matter of 
course throughout the seas from one end of the earth 
to the other. 

In 1867, in spite of the great debt with which the 
country was burdened, seven and a quarter million 
were paid for the territory of Alaska, then known as 
Russian America — popularly supposed to be a region 
of snow and ice, only valuable, it was thought, for its 
fur trade, lumber, and fisheries.* 

The next year was the time for the nomination 
and election of President. Mr. Johnson had so com- 
pletely alienated the Republican party, f that he was 

* A scientific party had explored the country in 1865, just after the 
close of the Civil War, and had reported that it was of much greater 
importance than had been believed. Secretary Seward had a far- 
reaching policy in this purchase. He had studied with care the his- 
tory of the world's seas, and thought he saw, as he once stated to the 
late President Garfield, that the hopes of man, the civilization of the 
world and the power of nations had been connected successively with 
the Sea of Galilee, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. He consid- 
ered that the people which should hold the key of the waters of the 
Pat itii I >cean would form the nation of the future, and he hoped to 
make it certain that Oriental decrepitude and Western civilization 
should lender homage at some future clay to the Republic. 

t The reader will recur to the case of President Tyler, who, in 1847, 
on acceding to the place of President Harrison, offended his party, 
and caused the resignation of all the members of the Cabinet except- 
ing Webster; and to that of President Filmore, who, in 1850, approved 
the Fugitive Slave I. aw, and thus by estranging his supporters, led to 
the overthrow of the Whig party. 



552 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

passed over, and General Grant was nominated and 
elected after a political campaign of the most intense 
excitement. The questions discussed were, of course, 
closely connected with the reconstruction of the South- 
ern States, and the great war through which the coun- 
try had so recently passed. 

During the administration of President Johnson, 
three amendments to the Constitution had been 
passed by Congress, though but one, the thirteenth, had 
been ratified by the States. The fourteenth became 
national law, July 28, 1868, and the fifteenth was 
declared a part of the Constitution March 30, 1870. 
The last simply guaranteed the suffrage to all men, 
irrespective of race, color or previous condition of 
servitude. Nevada, the thirty-sixth State, had been 
admitted to the Union in 1864, during the admin- 
istration of President Lincoln, and on the first 
of March, 1867, Nebraska, the thirty-seventh, was 
received. In 1868, Anson Burlingame, who had been 
appointed minister to China, in 1861, and had nego- 
tiated important treaties, returned to his native coun- 
try as ambassador from the Flowery Kingdom to the 
United States and the great powers of Europe. 

So complete was the reaction against President 
Johnson, that he was among those from whom the 
Democrats chose their candidate to be opposed to 
General Grant at the election in 1869. But for the 
unequalled popularity of Grant, he would not have 
been elected by a majority so great as two hundred 
and seventeen electoral votes against twenty-seven 
cast for his opponent, ex-Governor Seymour, of 
New York. His position before the end of John- 
son's administration had been one of great delicacy. 



GENERAL QUANTS POPULARITY. 553 

After the assassination of Lincoln, Congress had 
created the rank of General and had conferred it 
upon him, and he had been obliged to come into con- 
flict with the President in the performance of his 
duties. When Johnson determined to have General 
Lee tried for high treason, General Grant looked 
upon it as a violation of the agreement made when 
that officer laid down his arms and gave his parole. 



THE i'liODUCT OF THE PACIFIC SILVER MINES;. 

He therefore urged the President not to proceed, 
and when Johnson persisted, he threatened to resign 
his commission. At the time that Johnson made his 
progress through the West, he invited General Grant 
and Admiral Farragut to accompany him, in order to 
take advantage of the prestige afforded by their pres- 
ence, but, as events proved, it did not avail to turn 



554 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

the popular sentiment that had so evidently set away 
from him. Grant entered upon his term of office 
with the enthusiastic admiration of the majority of 
the North, and the respect of many in the South, on 
account of his magnanimous treatment of General 
Lee, and his remarkable military genius, though it 
was afterwards thought that his talent displayed it- 
self to greater advantage in directing a campaign 
than in fostering the relations of peace. 

The first noteworthy events in his administration 
were fruits of peace. On the tenth of May, 1869, the 
completion of the Pacific Railway, which opened a line 
of commercial communication from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific, was celebrated with impressive ceremonies 
at Ogden.* The last tie that was laid was of laurel 
wood, bound with bands of silver, and the spikes that 
fixed it in position were, a gold one, presented by Cali- 
fornia, one of gold, silver and iron, from Arizona, and 
another of silver, from Nevada. The very strokes of 
the hammer, and the words of the prayer that the 
Massachusetts clergyman uttered, were telegraphed to 
the ends of the country, and in practical token of the 
completion of the new route for traffic, a lot of tea was 

* In connection with the completion of the road the " Credit Mobilier 
scandal " arose involving many public men. The Credit Mobilier of 
America, was chartered in Pennsylvania, in 1859, to carry on a gen- 
eral loan and contract business, and it was organized in 1863, "'t' 1 
a capital of two and a half millions. Four years later its charter was 
purchased by a company formed for the construction of the Union 
Pacific railroad, and the capital increased to three and three quarters 
million dollars. Promiscuous, and in many cases, undoubtedly unjust 
accusations were made that members of Congress had become owners 
of this stock, and thus interested in an enterprise that was to be 
furthered by their votes. The Congressional investigation occurred in 
1872-73. The Senate took no action in it, but two members were 
censured by the House. 



SPECULATION AND FAILURES. 557 

at once shipped from San Francisco to the Eastern 
markets. It is said that this project had been broached 
by Asa Whitney, of New York, the great car-wheel 
manufacturer, in 1846. Surveys were made under 
authority of the War Department, in 1853, and in 1862 
and 1864, Congress made such grants for the purpose 
that its success was insured. 

September 24th of the same year is known as 
"Black Friday," for on that day a panic occurred in 
the financial circles from which the country did not 
recover for months. Two speculators, Jay Gould and 
James Fiske Jr., entered upon a plan to gain possession 
of the fifteen million of gold then in the hands of the 
sub-treasury, to advance the price and sell out at the 
advance. They actually succeeded in raising the 
price from 1.38 to 1.60, when, on the twenty-fourth of 
September, a despatch arrived from Washington 
announcing that Secretary Boutwell ordered the sale 
of four million from the sub-treasury. In the 
intensest excitement the price fell twenty per cent in 
as many minutes, and the stringency was relaxed at 
the expense of the speculators, who, in spite of the 
fact, managed to win a large sum. Many failures 
ensued. 

The year 1870 was marked by the completion of 
the re-organization of the South. The fifteenth 
amendment was ratified by Virginia in 1869, and by 
Mississippi and Texas in 1870, and the representa- 
tives from those States took their seats in the coun- 
cils of the nation — those of Virginia, January 24 ; 
those of Mississippi, February 23 ; and those of 
Texas, March 30. On the date last mentioned, Presi- 
dent Grant announced by proclamation the incorpora- 



558 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

tion of the fifteenth amendment in the Constitution. 

The year 1871 opened with another peace measure, 
for on the twenty-fifth of February there met at Wash- 
ington the joint high commission composed of five 
statesmen representing each country, to settle claims 
against England for the San Juan Islands, between 
Vancouver's Island and the continent, and for the 
depredations of the Confederate cruisers built in 
England, in contravention of her profession of neu- 
trality. The commission agreed to leave the claims 
to be determined by the Emperor of Germany, and 
the "Alabama claims," as they were called, (from the 
chief of the privateers,) to a court, one member of 
which should be appointed by the President, the Queen 
of England, the King of Italy, the President of the 
Swiss Confederation, and the Emperor of Brazil. 
The court met at Geneva, Switzerland, December 15, 
1 87 1, and after an adjournment, decided, September 
14, 1872, that England should pay the United States 
fifteen million and a half in gold to be distributed by 
the government. 

In 1867 the Governor of Tennessee, William G. 
Brownlow, called upon the United States military to 
suppress violent demonstrations in that State that had 
been traced to an organization known as the " Ku-klux 
Klan." It appears that at the close of the war a num- 
ber of secret political societies were formed in the 
Southern States, the objects of which were to offset, 
as was claimed by the people of the section, the acts 
of certain other societies formed through the agency 
of intriguers from the North, who were exciting the 
negro population to acts of violence, and endangering 
their homes and social relations. It has been reported 



FIRES l\ CHICAGO AND BOSTON. 



1)59 



that five hundred thousand members united the Ku- 
klux Klan, of whom forty thousand were in Tennessee. 
Congress ordered an investigation in April, 1871, and 
the result was published in twelve volumes. The or- 
ganization died out afterwards, partly because the 
relation of the North and South were becoming more 
harmonious, and the passions engendered by war were 
growing weaker. 

On the evening of October 8th, 1871, a fire broke 
out in Chicago which spread with great rapidity and 
burned through 
the next day, 
sweeping away 
the greater por- 
tion of the pop- 
ulous city, and 
laying bare a 
space of twenty- 
one hundred 




HOKACK i.liKKI.KV s HIHT1II , I.A( K. 



square acres. 
The good feel- 
ings of the whole 
country went out 
to the devasta- 
ted city, and mil- 
lions of dollars 

were contributed to help the sufferers. A year later 
the city of Boston was visited by a conflagration sec- 
ond only to that of Chicago, which destroyed the best 
portion of the city, causing a loss of seventy-five mil- 
lion dollars and interrupting trade to a great extent. 
In both cases the process of recuperation was rapid, 
and new buildings of elegance and cost rose on the 



560 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

ruins of the old, which made the cities more beautiful 
than they ever had been. 

Another political campaign approached, and it 
developed much opposition to the measures of General 
Grant. He was renominated by acclamation by the 
Republicans, but in opposition to him the Democrats 
and disaffected Republicans chose Horace Greeley,* 
a man of pure motives, who for a generation had been 
among the leaders of opinion. The campaign was one 
of severe excitement, and resulted in the election of 
Grant. The strain and disappointment added to the 
care of an invalid wife, proved too great for Mr. 
Greeley, and he died November 29th, mourned by 
many who did not approve his teachings, but honored 
his purity. He did not gain any Northern States' elec- 
toral votes, and Grant was elected by a large majority. 

During General Grant's second term he inaugurated 
his "Quaker" policy in treating the Indians, intend- 
ing to use kindness instead of military force in the 
control of the sons of the forest. He appointed mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends to visit the Indians, but 
their influence was not extensive. A war broke out 
in Northern California, in consequence of an attempt 

* Greeley and his party did not approve the military measures 
adopted by President Grant in the South, and in their platform 
urged a return to methods of peace and the constitutional limits of 
Federal power. They demanded, also, civil service reform, and the 
immediate and absolute removal of all disabilities imposed by the 
civil war. 

Mr. Greeley was a native of Amherst, N. H., where he was born in 
1811. He removed to New York in 1S31, and in 1841, founded the 
Daily Tribune, which he continued to edit with great ability until his 
death. During the Harrison campaign, he published in New York a 
weekly paper called the Log Cabin, which attained a remarkable circu- 
lation and gave him a wide reputation. 



i.\hi.\.\ i i;oi /;/./>. 561 

to remove the Modoc tribe from its ancestral home to 
a reservation. In 1850, they had been chastised by 
General Nathaniel Lyon for predatory outrages said 
to have been inflicted on the whites in 1 S47 and 1849, 
and had taken revenge in 1852 by massacring some 
white settlers. For this they were invited to a peace- 
ful pow-wow, and forty-one of forty-six who attended 
were murdered. Fighting was pretty constant after 
this until they were finally overcome. In 1872, they 
intrenched themselves in " the lava beds" in Ore- 
gon, and several attempts to dislodge them failed. In 
1873, a conference was appointed to attempt to 
arrive at a peaceful settlement, but in imitation of their 
former treatment by the whites, they treacherously 
fired upon the commissioners, killing General Canby 
and Doctor Thomas, outright, and wounding Mr. 
Meacham. They were then besieged and forced 
by General Jefferson C. Davis to surrender. The 
chief offenders were executed October 3, 1873, and 
the remainder retired to the reservation in the Indian 
Territory. 

The great extension of railways and the improduc- 
tiveness of investments in them led, in the autumn of 
1873, to a financial panic comparable to those of 1837 
and 1857, caused respectively by the specie circular 
of President Jackson and the failure of the Ohio Life 
and Trust Company of Cincinnati. Jay Cooke and 
Company, extensive bankers, who were at the time 
engaged in constructing the Northern Pacific Railroad, 
were the first to succumb, and their failure was fol- 
lowed by many more in various parts of the country. 
Again many months passed before commerce resumed 
its regular operations. 



562 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

The railroad from Lake Superior to Puget Sound 
had been organized with a charter from the gov- 
ernment, in 1864, and had been granted nearly 
fifty million acres of land. Jay Cooke and Company 
expected other subsidies from Congress which should 
bring the stock to a high price, but the Credit Mobil- 
ier scandal coming to light at this juncture, dissipated 
all hope in that direction, and caused a fall in the 
securities that resulted in setting back the construction 
of the road, and the disastrous failure of the firm, 
with many others connected with it. Still the road 
under new management has slowly progressed west- 
ward, and some seventy thousand immigrants now 
have prosperous homes along the line. Six different 
roads are now completed or in process of construction 
across the continent; the Canadian Pacific, 1750 
miles long, north of the Lake Superior ; the Northern 
Pacific, 1800 miles, from St. Paul and Duluth to 
Puget Sound ; the Union and Central Pacific, from 
Omaha to San Francisco, 1916 miles, completed in 
1869 ; the Utah and Northern, a branch of the Union 
Pacific, to run from Ogden to the Columbia River, to 
compete with the Northern Pacific ; the St. Louis 
and San Francisco Company ; and the Southern 
Pacific, beginning with the Texas Pacific, running- 
through Arizona to San Francisco. Such a complexus 
of railways would scarcely be possible in any other 
country, and they are wonderful to examine, running 
as they do through a country as broad as a continent, 
which but a few years ago was considered almost 
impassable. 

The last year of the second term of President 
Grant was the one hundredth since the Declaration 



THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 568 

of Independence, and it had been looked forward to 
with interest. For some years previous the plans for 
its appropriate celebration had been discussed, and it 

was finally determined that a grand exhibition of the 
industries of all nations should be held at Philadelphia 
where the Declaration was signed. In 1871, commis- 
sioners were constituted in accordance with an Act of 
Congress, and the active arrangements began the 
next year. The exhibition opened May 10th, and 
closed November 10th. Throngs of interested visit- 
ors crowded the City of Brotherly Love during the 
interval, and a great impetus was given to the mate- 
rial progress of the entire country by the opportuni- 
ties that were afforded of seeing the highest results 
of the ingenuity and genius of man as developed in all 
parts of the world. 

The peacefulness of the Centennial year was dis- 
turbed by a war with the Sioux Indians, whose terri- 
tory had been invaded by gold-hunters, thus giving 
excuse for depredations upon the whites. Their chiefs 
were Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Spotted Tail,* who 
had been in Washington in 1875, but refused to sign a 
treaty giving up their lands and promising to retire 
to the Indian Territory. A force under Generals 
Terry, Crook, Custer and Reno, and Colonels Mac- 
kenzie and Miles, were sent against them, and they 
were at last forced to flee over the Northern line into 
British territory. During the struggle General 
Custer with all his force was cut to pieces by the 
savages, June 25th. 

On the first of August of the Centennial year, Col- 

* A portrait of Spotted Tail, from a photograph, is given on page 44. 



564 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

orado, the thirty-eighth State, was admitted to the 
Union. It is rich in mineral resources, possesses a 
salubrious climate, has an extensive scheme of rail- 
ways, a carefully framed constitution, ample facilities 
for education, and a number of thriving towns' and 
cities, of which Denver is the chief. Three and three- 
quarter million acres of public lands are consecrated 
to the endowment of education.* 

As the end of President Grant's term approached, 




THE ART GALLERY AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 

much dissatisfaction was expressed with his adminis- 
tration, and deep interest attached to the choice of his 
successor. Besides the two great parties, a third 
entered the field — the " Greenback " party, and each 
one called loudly for "reform."- It proved the great- 
est political crisis in the history of America, and the 
aspect of affairs for months was of the most threaten- 
ing character. The Greenback party did not obtain 

* Views of Pike's Peak and the Mount of the Holy Cross in Colorado 
are given on pages 386 and 390. 



A POLITICAL CRISIS o65 

an electoral vote, and owing to irregularities in 
Oregon, Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, it 
seemed doubtful which of the two candidates, Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes, the Republican, or Samuel J. Tilden, the 
Democrat, had been chosen. Congress proved unable 
to decide, and a joint high commission was formed, con- 
sisting of five members of the Senate, five of the House, 
and five justices of the Supreme Court, to which was 
committed the final settlement of the great question.' 
Meantime the day for the inauguration of the Presi- 
dent approached, and the country was in a state of 
suspense. Commerce felt the unsettled influence of 
the doubt, and manufactures languished. Finally, 
two clays before the inauguration-day, the commission 
rendered a decision, giving the Presidency to the 
Republican candidate, by a vote of eight to seven. 
After all the deep-felt excitement, the law-abiding- 
sentiment of the people held the day, the result was 
acquiesced in, and Hayes was duly inaugurated. The 
appointment of the commission was an act creditable 
to the patriotism of the members of each party as 
represented in Congress, and that it resulted in a peace- 
able settlement of the question when so large a pro- 
portion of the entire people felt aggrieved by the 
decision, showed the strength of the Republic. 

Rutherford Birchard Hayes, the nineteenth Presi- 
dent, a native of Ohio, was born October 4, 1S22, of 
Xew England descent and Scottish ancestry, lie 
graduated at Kenyon College, and studied law at the 

* The crucial question before the commission was, whether it, <>i 
Congress, had power to go behind an electoral certificate confessedly 
in proper form, and take evidence in support <>) alleged irregularities 
and fraud. This right the Republicans denied, while the Democrats 

supported it. The decision was, therefore, made on party lines. 



566 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

Harvard University Law School. In 1861 he left a 
position of the first rank at the bar, and entered the 
army. He saw much active service, and for gallantry 
during engagements in the Shenandoah Valley, was 
brevetted major-general. Though elected to Congress 
before the close of the war, he refused to take his seat 
until after the surrender of Lee. He was re-chosen 
on account of his marked ability, but was at about the 
same time elected Governor of Ohio, an office to which 
he was twice re-elected. From it he went to that of 
President, entering upon his official duties with an 
announcement of his determination to carry on the 
government on the principles of the fathers, who, he 
asserted, meant that officers of government should not 
be turned out of their positions for political reasons. 
He declared that though elected by a party, he thought 
that he who serves his country best serves his party 
best, and announced that he should pursue a civil 
policy that would " wipe out forever the distinctions 
between North and South in our common country." 
These statements were looked at askance by strict 
Republican partisans, who felt still more suspicious of 
them when, after an investigation, the President with- 
drew the troops that President Grant had stationed in 
Louisiana and South Carolina,* on the ground that no 
such " domestic violence " as is contemplated by the 
Constitution as reason for the military interference of 
the Federal government, existed in those States. 
Though the move was eminently satisfactory to the 
great body of peace-loving citizens, it was denounced 

*The troops had been sent to Louisiana and South Carolina on 
account of trouble that arose between rival governments, owing to dis- 
puted elections. President Grant had removed the troops from Missis- 
sippi before. 



RAILWAY RIOTS. 567 

by the members of the President's party. Time has 
shown that it was a wise one. President Hayes also 
recommended a speedy resumption of specie payments, 
in accordance with the act of 1875. 

Scarcely had the President been inaugurated, when 
industrial troubles that had been for a considerable 
time threatening the railway and mining interests, 
broke out in extensive strikes. The first occurred on 
the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, when the men left 
their posts, July 16th, and stopped the running of 
trains, setting the authorities at defiance. Within a 
week, all trains between the East and the West had 
been brought to a stand ; the dangerous classes 
embraced the opportunity to make demonstrations, 
mobs gathered and destroyed a great deal of property 
in Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, and 
elsewhere. For two weeks the business of the country 
was disturbed. One hundred thousand railroad men 
and forty thousand miners were engaged in the strike. 
and the militia and United States army were found 
necessary to stay the destruction of property and life. 
Quiet was not restored until railroad property to the 
value of ten million dollars had been destroyed, inclu- 
ding two thousand freight cars and their valuable 
contents, the Union station, and all the railroad build- 
ings, machine shops, and a hundred and twenty-five 
locomotives in Pittsburgh alone. 

During the summer of 1878, the cities in the south- 
ern portion of the valley of the Mississippi were 
scourged by the yellow fever, a terrible infectious 
disease which had before afflicted those regions, and 
desolation spread from New Orleans to Natchez, 
Memphis, Granada, Vicksburgh, Nashville, Louisville, 



568 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

and before the grateful autumn frosts, twenty thousand 
persons had fallen victims to the insidious plague. 
Charitable contributions were poured out freely by the 
people of the North, and many instances of the most 




WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 

heroic self-sacrifice adorned the records of the terrible 
period. 

As a result of the treaty negotiated by Mr. Anson 
Burlingame at Pekin, and ratified at Washington July 



THE NEGRO EX0DU8. 569 

1 6, 1878, a permanent Chinese legation was estab- 
lished in Washington, in 1878, Chen Lan Pin being 
the first minister, and Yung Wing, a graduate of Yale 
College, assistant envoy. The President received the 
ministers September 28th, and great satisfaction was 
felt on account of this establishment of more intimate 
relations with the ancient kingdom. The treaty per- 
mitted citizens of each country to enjoy entire religious 
liberty in the other, and included other stipulations 
of a liberal character. 

Congress did not sympathize fully with these senti- 
ments, and passed an " Anti-Chinese Bill," which the 
President vetoed, because, as he thought, it contra- 
vened the engagements of the treaty. The opposition 
to the Chinese had its origin in California, where laws 
had been passed against their emigration, alarm having 
been excited on account of their unprecedented increase, 
and the importation of their peculiar customs and 
diseases. Many acts of violence were committed 
against them. 

The year 1879 witnessed the beginning of a " negro 
exodus " from the Southern States to Kansas, which 
the colored people looked upon as a land of happiness 
and security. A memorial of the most prominent 
citizens of St. Louis set forth that during the two 
weeks preceding April 7, 1879, two thousand men, 
women and children, many of them infirm from age, 
had arrived mainly from Louisiana and Mississippi, 
who refused all inducements to return South, alleging 
fear of violence, privation and imposition. A negro 
convention assembled at Nashville May 7, which dis- 
cussed the entire subject, and voted to encourage the 
exodus, and to ask the government to appropriate 



570 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

funds for the purpose. Before summer closed more 
than seven thousand negroes had reached Kansas and 
other States, though the excitement gradually died 
out. 

The resumption of gold payments was effected on 
the first of January, 1879, without severe financial 
trouble, for after the passage of the act of 1875, 
the public had begun to prepare for the event. Dis- 
tress followed the passage of the act, but affairs grad- 
ually assumed a healthy condition as time passed on. 

As the end of the term of President Hayes 
approached, the Republican party began to look for a 
candidate to present to the people, for he had declared 
in his inaugural address that he should not be candi- 
date for reelection. The friends of General Grant 
made strong efforts to obtain the nomination for him, 
but there was a deep feeling against a " third term," 
which Washington would not accept, and at the 
Republican convention, held at Chicago June 2nd, 
a compromise was effected, the nomination being 
given to General James A. Garfield, of Ohio, who had 
been one of the leaders in Congress, had been an 
advocate of the nomination of John Sherman of Ohio, 
and was honored as a man of untarnished good name. 
The Democrats nominated General Winfield Scott 
Hancock, then in the army, a man against whom no 
aspersion was made. He had been engaged in the 
Mexican War, was brevetted for bravery at Contreras 
and Cherubusco, and took a prominent part in the 
Civil War, having seen service in the battles of 
Williamsburg, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spottsylvania 
Court House. The choice of the Electoral College fell 



THE A88A88INATI0N OF GARFIELD. 57] 

upon General Garfield, and he was inaugurated 
March 4, [88 1. 

Following the example of President Hayes, Mr. 
Garfield declared that he should support the cause of 
public education with earnestness, that he wished to 
obliterate the sectional feelings still existing which 
had resulted from the war, that he should countenance 
measures for the payment of the national debt, and 
the support of sound banks, that polygamy should be 
repressed, and that the civil service should be 
reformed. The people felt that they had a chief 
officer in whom they might trust ; a man of strength 
and character. The administration did not open 
calmly, for a difference soon developed itself between 
two wings of the Republican party, and the rush for 
office, too, was greater than ever had been known 
before. Before the President had time to show in 
what manner he would meet the difficulties of his 
position, he was suddenly shot down by an assassin/ 
on the morning of the second of July, as he was about 
to enter a train for the purpose of going to Williams- 
town, Mass., to attend the Commencement exercises 
of his Alma Mater. The grief and exasperation felt 
by the country was intense, and it was shared by peo- 
ple all over the world. For eighty days the President 
languished, bearing his suffering with Christian forti- 
tude, and on the nineteenth of September he breathed 

* This act was that of a vicious and unbalanced office-seeker, who, 
after exhausting all means at his disposal tor obtaining an appointment 
for which he was not qualified, deliberately determined to take tin lite 
of the person whose probity he thought had baffled his efforts. It 
emphasized the need of Civil Service Reform that had been expressed 
by Horace Greeley in rS7 1, President Hayes in 1S76 and by President 
Garfield in his inaugural address. 



572 



THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 



his last at Elberon, near Long Branch, to which place 
he had been carried in the vain hope of facilitating 
his recovery. 

The Vice-President, Chester A. Arthur, immediately 
took the oath of office, and the wheels of Government 




PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



moved forward without interruption. The funeral of 
President Garfield was held at Washington, and then 
his body was borne across the country ( as that of 
Lincoln had been carried ) to its last resting-place at 
Cleveland, Ohio. 



( IVIL 8EBVH E AND REVENUE. 573 

Fifty years after the Parliamentary Reform Bill 
which changed the system of representation, had been 
adopted in England, and many years after the subject 
of a mode o\ appointing public officers that was not 
based on favor had been first discussed in America, 
President Arthur was called upon to sign a Civil 
Service Reform Bill, on the fifteenth of January, 
1833. Civil Service examinations had been first 
introduced in England in 1855 ; the same Congress 
that effected the enactment of this bill, also modified 
the tarifl and revenue system of the country. The 
changes that have been made in the tariff have already 
been referred to from time to time briefly, but they 
are worthy of a more detailed study in this connection. 

On the formation of the government the crying need "I a revenue, 
and the animosity felt towards the English, led to the imposition 

of customs duties on imported goods (by an Act of 1789), avera^im; 
about S 1-2 per cent.; but it was expected that they would be removed 
, by 1796. In fact, however, before [816, seventeen acts had been 
passed increasing the duties. The Embargo and the War of 1S12 nec- 
essarily stimulated the erection of factories, directed industry into 
new channels; money was made rapidly, and speculation, and exten- 
sions of paper credit ensued. The unhealthy results of war in ling- 
land and on the Continent, had produced the feverish condition of 
business which led to the false doctrine of over-production, announced 
by Sismondi, and to the shipment of goods from England to the Conti- 
nent and the United States for relief. This was the economic ex< use 
for Brougham's famous words in regard to strangling the industrii S "I 
America.* The principle of "minimum valuation t" firsl appeared 
in the Act of 1816, which retained the high duties of the Wai 
of [8l2 laveraging about 20 to 30 per cent.), but did not suffice to 

* See page 226. 

t A minimum valuation of 25 cents a yard was placed upon cotton goods, on 
which a tariff of .?; per cent, was levied, making a dutj of 6 1 1 cents a jra*d. 
The application of the principle was afterwards enormously extended, esp 
in the departments of high-priced woollens, and now forms an integral part ol 
our tarilt system. 



574 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

keep out foreign goods. In 1818, the iron industry received more pro- 
tection and kept it for twenty years. The cotton industry early 
obtained a firm footing, and was not so much dependent on protection. 
Yet in 1824, the argument that the years of previous commercial dis- 
tress could be aided by higher duties, brought about the first heavy 
protective legislation, the duties averaging about 37 per cent. The 
effect of this measure was, of course, to raise prices, and make it 
necessary for other industries to claim protection, which was the 
explanation of the demand of the wool and woollen goods interest for 
high duties on their products in 1828, when the average duties were 
placed at about 41 per cent. This was the cause of Southern dissatis- 
faction, because there was no protection on cotton and sugar, and all 
articles were purchased at protected prices. The Nullification move- 
ment led to the Compromise Tariff of 1833, arranged by Clay and Cal- 
houn, by which the excess of duties beyond 20 per cent, were to be 
gradually reduced by the year 1842. This, then, was a decided change 
toward freer exchange. Meanwhile the crisis of 1837 deranged all 
business. It was held that the excess of imports carried away specie 
and paralyzed trade, and so with very bad political economy they 
hoped to stop imports by a new tariff, that of 1842, which returned 
nearly to the high protection existing just before 1833. In 1844 the 
South came into power on Polk's election, and in 1846 reduced the 
tariff heavily, adopting the hobby of horizontal rates and ad valorem 
duties. The country prospered, and by 1857 the revenues were beyond 
the expenditures, so that duties were again lowered in that year, and 
many raw materials put on the free list. 

In the Chicago Convention (i860) it was necessary to secure Penn- 
sylvania and Ohio to the Republican party, and it was arranged to do 
this by promising duties on iron and wool. The Morrill Tariff of 
1861 was the result of this (not being a war measure), which put 
duties somewhat higher than in 1846. " Compensating " duties here 
first appeared. Manufacturers of woollens had a duty protecting 
them, merely in the manufacturing process, of 25 per cent, ad valorem 
on woollen goods; but inasmuch as the wool, which is the raw material 
of their industry, was protected by a duty and so was raised in price, 
the makers of woollens asked and received another, or " compensating " 
duty of 12 cents as an offset for the higher cost of their material. The 
demands of the Treasury for war payments now led to the War Legis- 
lation on the Tariff. July 1st, 1862, an act was passed imposing heavy 
internal revenue duties; and July 14th, 1862, customs duties were like- 
wise increased to offset the internal taxes. The climax of this legisla- 
tion dates from June 30th, 1864. In only five days Congress passed 
the greatest fiscal measure in our history. A loan of four hundred 



THE TARIFF. 



575 



million was authorized, enormous internal taxation (including the 
income tax) imposed, and consequently as an offset again to this a great 
increase in customs duties, which mostly remain thus today. The 
following articles show tin duties now in force passed in 1864 as com- 
pared with 1861 : — 



Articles. 
Books 
Chinaware 

Cotton goods . 
Cotton, fine prints . 
Manufactured flax, jute, 



1S61 
1 5 per cent. 

30 per cent. 
30 per cent. 
4 I-2C sq. y. ; & 10 p 



or hemp 
Linen 

Window glass 
Kid or leather gloves, 
Bar iron 
Hoop iron 
Iron rails 
Pig lead 
Paper . 

Silk dress goods . 
Steel bars 



1864 
25 per cent. 
45 per cent. 
35 per cent. 
5 1-2 sq. y. & 20 p.c. 

30 per cent. . . 40 per cent. 

25 to 30 per cent. . 35 to 40 per cent. 

1 to 1 i-2c sq. ft. . 3-4 to 4c sq. ft. 

30 per cent. . . 50 per cent. 

3-4C per lb. . . 1 to 1 1-2C per lb. 

ic per lb. . . 1 to 1 i-2c per lb. 

$12 per ton . . $14 per ton. 

ic per lb. . . 2c per lb. 

30 per cent. . . 35 per cent. 

30 per cent. . . 60 per cent. 

1 1-2 to 2c per lb. 2 1-2 to 3c per lb. 

After the close of the war internal taxation was reduced, and by 
1870 most of those taxes for which customs duties had been laid on as 
an offset, had disappeared; but this brought no change in the tariff to 
any extent. Steel rails which had not been much used by the railroads 
in 1864 were in 1870 protected by a duty of $28 a ton. In 1867 the 
woollen manufacturers found the artificial demand of the war had 
failed them, and that their machinery could produce more than the 
market absorbed. They therefore secured, by uniting with the wool 
growers (in the Syracuse Convention of 1865), a great increase of their 
protective and compensating duties, and the duty on wool was raised 
at the same time. This is the reason woollen clothing is so high in 
this country. In 1869 protection to copper and manufactured copper 
was increased considerably. 

The activity of business and the increase of our revenues had pro- 
duced a surplus under the heavy taxation of 1872, and the clamoi for 
relief caused a uniform reduction of 10 percent, on all dutiable goods; 
and tea and coffee were put on the free list (as was the case between iS 52 
and 1861). The crisis of 1873 came and was used, as in 1842, as a 
pretext for renewed protection, but only to the extent, in 1875, °f 
repealing the reduction of 10 per cent, made in 1872. The change 



576 THE NEW ERA OF NA TIONAL LIFE. 

made by the last legislation of 1S83 has been in the direction of some- 
what lower duties on iron and wool, but not on woollens. 

Thus we have followed the history of our country 
from its discovery by Columbus, in the age just after 
the invention of the art preservative of arts, when 
Guttenburg and Caxton had recently passed away, 
and Erasmus, Cranmer, More, Cromwell, Copernicus, 
and Wolsey were about to appear. Wyclif and 
Chaucer had gone, but Shakespeare, Michael Angelo, 
Bacon, Des Cartes and Galileo were yet to come, 
among those whom to us seem ancient. 

Four centuries have wrought wonderful changes on 
both sides of the ocean. When Balboa discovered 
the Pacific Ocean, Luther was preparing to overturn 
much that was thought to be immovable in Europe. 
When Cortez received the submission of Monte- 
zuma, the Reformation had begun. At that moment 
that the Pilgrims planted their feet on the rock of 
Plymouth, John Milton, already a poet, then twelve 
years old, was entering upon those careful studies 
which gave him his power, and all Europe was gazing 
upon the opening scenes of the Thirty Years' war. 
When Charles the First was standing upon the 
scaffold in Whitehall, the citizens of Maryland were 
preparing for the establishment of religious freedom, 
a freedom which was at the time but little under- 
stood by even the most advanced thinkers. 

It would be interesting to trace the contemporane- 
ous events that mark the progress of history on the 
two sides of the ocean. The study would prove 
instructive in many ways. It would show that the 
discovery of the New World was reserved for the 
period of intellectual, political, religious activity that 



ANGLO ^.\.\(>\ CIVILIZATION. 



579 



followed the Reformation, and that the advent to our 
shores of the representatives of the people who were 
to give character to the future civilization occurred at 
a time when the Mother-Country was stirred by those 
earnest discussions of deep problems in Church and 
State which mark the Puritan period, and that thus to 
the first settlers was given a devotion to God and a 




VA--AK COLLEG] OB8EBVATOBY. 

support of principle which was not known by the 
adventurers who had essayed to establish themselves 
on the continent before their day. Providence did not 
give it to the Spanish seekers after gold to found the 
lasting colony upon our territory, nor even to the self- 
sacrificing French explorers who carried their Gallic 
habits and mediaeval sympathies almost across the 
continent, before the representatives of Anglo-Saxon 
force and of the Biblical religion of England set their 
feet upon the rock of Plymouth — even before the 



580 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

less purposeful Englishmen built their cabins on the 
shores of the James River. In these men the spirit of 
freedom was planted, and it grew up by slow process, 
until it reached its full fruition in the dedication of 
the land to religious toleration and political deliver- 
ance from all restrictions to the suffrage. 

Neither religious freedom nor universal suffrage 
were decreed by any of those who were minded to 
found colonies in America. Both grew out of the cir- 
cumstances. Roger Williams, who did not come to 
establish a colony, seems to be the only founder who 
worked the problem out independently and without 
being moved by the force of outside influences, for 
though Maryland gave a free asylum to persons of all 
religious faiths, it can easily be shown that because the 
proprietor of that colony was a Romanist, and was 
surrounded by Protestants, and because he sought the 
growth of his colony, it was to his interest to open the 
doors to all alike. The very diversity of religious 
creeds must have shown the people the need of tolera- 
tion. The Episcopalians established themselves in 
Virginia in 1607; the Congregationalists may be said 
to have come in 1620, when the Pilgrims established 
their independence in Plymouth ; three years later the 
reformed Dutch Church was transplanted to the vir- 
gin soil of the New Netherlands ; the Roman Church 
was represented in the settlement of Maryland, in 
1632. Roger Williams, in 1639, formed the first 
Baptist Church at Providence;* the Lutherans 

* Of the Baptists Judge Story said, " In the code of laws established 
by them in Rhode Island, we read for the first time since Christianity 
ascended the throne of the Caesars, the declaration that conscience 
should be free, and men should not be punished for worshiping God in 
the way that they are persuaded he requires." 



THE RELIGIOUS SE( / - 581 

appeared in New York in 1669 ; the Presbyterians, 
persecuted in Scotland,* entered the New World a 
score of years later; the German Reformed Church 
came with four hundred emigrants from the Palatinate 
to Pennsylvania, in 1727; and the Methodists formed 
themselves into a society in New York in 1766. 
Thus the representatives of different creeds met on 
the free soil of America. "Each sect," says Mr. 
Bancroft, in his eighteenth chapter, " rallied round a 
truth," and " as truth never contradicted itself, the 
collision of sects could but eliminate error ; and the 
American mind, in the largest sense eclectic, struggled 
for universality, while it asserted freedom. . . . The 
happy age gave birth to a people which was to own 
no authority as the highest, but the free conviction 
of the public mind." 

From these conflicts it resulted that when the con- 
stitutions of the different States were formed, though 
they recognized the duties of man to God, they left all 
free to perform those duties after the leading of their 
own consciences. Thus the constitutions of Tennes- 
see and Mississippi declare that no person who denies 
the being of a God or a future state of rewards and 
punishments shall hold any office in the civil depart- 
ment of the State, and some, like Maryland, enact 
that no religious test, other than a declaration of a 
belief in the existence of God, ought ever to be 
regarded as a qualification for any state office of profit 
or trust. Another result has been that though the 
States generally agree with the expressions of the 
constitution of Ohio, and with the principles of Massa- 
chusetts, that " religion, morality and knowledge 

*See page 196. 



582 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

being essential to good government, it shall be the 
duty of the general assembly to pass suitable laws to 
protect every religious denomination in the peaceable 
enjoyment of its own mode of public worship and 
to encourage schools," doctrinal teaching has been 
excluded from the schools supported by the States. 

If we examine the mechanical progress of America 
we find a vast and most interesting field opening to 
us. During the colonial period there was little ad- 
vance in the direction of invention. It is said that 
there were probably but two steam engines in the 
Colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence ; but fifteen years after peace had given the 
people time to think of other interests than that of 
self-preservation, a cotton mill had been built at Bev- 
erly, Mass. (1787), the Arkwright system of mill spin- 
ning had been introduced by Slater (1789), Rumsey 
and Fitch had begun to see the future steamboat, 
Jacob Perkins had invented his machine for cutting- 
nails and his dies for coin; Whitney had (1793) in- 
vented his gin which was to supplant the old roller 
gin and to increase immensly the cotton production 
of the country. England prevented the exportation 
of machinery, and added a stimulus to the already 
acute inventive genius of the people. 

Steam navigation is a creature of the present cen- 
tury. The telegraph, which gives us this morning the 
news of every part of the world, and the newspaper 
itself, in its present completeness, were unknown to 
our fathers. The railway, the printing-press, the 
sewing-machine, the locomotive, the electric light, 
the telephone, all show the active inventive genius of 
the American, though all are not American inven- 



ELEVTHli II ) AM) STE I If. 






tions. The telephone is one of the most remarkable 
of all, and the patent for it is the nearest known ap- 
proach to a patent of a principle. It was issued in 
[876, to Alexander Graham Bell, and in its now eel 
ebrated "fifth claim" bases the demand for a patent 




AN AMERICAN RAILWAY STATION. TERMINTJ8 OP Jill. BOSTON 
ANI> LOWELL KAILISOAD, BOSTON. 

upon the " method of and apparatus for transmitting 
vocal or other sounds telegraphically, ... by caus- 
ing electrical undulations similar in form to the vibra- 
tions of the air accompanying the said vocal or other 
sounds." 



584 



THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 



Though there had been other efforts to accomplish 
steam navigation, it was not until 1807, when Robert 
Fulton sailed up the Hudson in his Clermont, that 
success can be said to have been achieved. In 1829, 
the Savanna// was the first steamer to cross from 
America to Europe. In 1836, Ericisson brought the 





AN OCEAN STEAMER. 



screw propeller into prominence, and since that time 
the paddle-wheels, then thought the only practicable 
mode of propelling steamers, have almost disappeared. 
A locomotive of American manufacture was first 
used on the South Carolina.* It was built at a foundry 
in West Street, New York City, in 1830, and the same 
year Peter Cooper, founder of the Cooper Institute 
in New York, built a locomotive for the Baltimore 

* This was done on a suggestion made in 1S29, by Horatio Allen, 
the engineer of the road, who made the drawings. 



Mi:< 7/.IA /' .1 /. PROGRESS. 

and Ohio road, which showed that steam could be used 
on curved roads, for which English locomotives were 
not adapted. The first railway was not built for the use 
of steam, but the cars were drawn by horses. It was 
from Ouincy to Milton, two and a half miles, and was 
opened in 1826. It was for the transportation of 
granite. The Baltimore and Ohio road, fifteen miles 
long, opened in 1830, was the first passenger road, 
and horses were used there before steam. From 
these small beginnings have grown the extensive ram- 
ifications of constantly increasing tracks, which, as 
we have seen, span the continent, and have revolution- 
ized internal commerce. 

In 1832 Samuel Finley Breese Morse,* the founder 
of the National Academy of Design, then known as 
an artist, made the drawings of the Recording Tele- 
graph, and in 1842, on the twenty-fourth of May, he 
sent from the rooms of the Supreme Court at Wash- 
ington, to Baltimore, the message, " What hath God 
wrought ! " Five days later the intelligence of the 
nomination of Mr. Polk as President was sent from 
Baltimore to Washington, and the active life was 
begun of the invention that now binds the entire 
country in its wiry meshes, and often thrills the 
world as with a single impulse. 

It is not possible in our limits to trace the wonder- 
ful history of American mechanical progress. It is 
seen in the thousands of mills, laboratories, foundries, 
mines and manufactories that crowd the land and call 
emigrants from every country on the globe. Its 

*A memorial tablet in honor of Mr. Morse, placed on the walls of 
the house in which he once lived, in Rome, Italy, was unveiled March 
5. 1883. A statue erected to his memory stands in Central Park, New 
York City. 



586 



THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 



records are in the hundreds of periodicals that give 
descriptions of the patents which swarm from the cap- 
ital, that advertise the fruits of industry, that record 
the fluctuations of the products, or of stocks, that tell 
the often romantic stories of the lives of those self- 




IVRINCIPAL BUILDING OF WELLESLEY COL- 
LEGE, SEEN OVEK LAKE WABAN. 

sacrificing geniuses, whose minds 
work out the principles upon which 
the material growth and wealth of the country is 
founded. The very newspapers that give us our 
morning and evening news, are developments of 
mechanical and inventive genius, for the hundred 
ingenious processes necessary for their production 
have been slowly worked out in the privacy and 



AMERICAN i OLLEGES. 587 

hardship of many a brilliant and industrious scien- 
tific and mechanical worker. 

Progress is no less remarkable in the domain of 
literature and liberal studies. Nineteen colleges were 
founded before the beginning of the present century, 
and since that time the number has been increased 
until the list comprises several hundred, situated in 
almost every State and Territory. Nine of these were 
begun before the Revolution, and Massachusetts, which 
still expends more money on its schools in proportion 
to its population than any other State, founded the 
first, Harvard College, in 1636. Two generations had 
nearly passed away before the example was followed, 
in 1693, by Virginia, with William and Mary College, 
the germs of which, planted in 16 19, before the Pilgrims 
landed at Plymouth, were destroyed by the Indians. 
The offspring of the Revolution of 1688, it was char- 
tered and endowed by the sovereigns who were 
placed in authority by that uprising, and became a 
centre of influence and a nursery of patriotism. 

Yale College was begun at Saybrook late in the 
year 1701, and was removed to New Haven in 171 7, 
though the classes had been actually taught at Clinton 
(then Killingworth), until 1707. The name was given 
to the school in honor of Elihu Yale of London, a 
native of New Haven, who, after amassing a fortune 
in India, gave it goods valued at two hundred pounds. 
The college of New Jersey, founded under the aus- 
pices of the Presbyterian synod of New York (which 
then included New Jersey), was chartered in 1746, and 
opened in 1747. at Klizabethtown. It was removed to 
Newark in 1748. and to Princeton, in 1757, where a 
large edifice was erected, and named Nassau 1 1 all, in 



588 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

honor of William III. Columbia College was incor- 
porated by George II., in 1754, and named King's 
College. It received its first funds from the proceeds 
of lotteries authorized for the purpose, and from lands 
granted it by Trinity Church. 

The University of Pennsylvania was incorporated 
as a college in 1755, though it had been founded as an 
academy in 1749, and still earlier, in 1745, had been 
a charity school. Brown University was founded as 
Rhode Island College, at Warren, in 1764, and 
removed to Providence in 1770, its name being 
changed in honor of Nicholas Brown, one of its bene- 
factors. Dartmouth College grew from a school for 
Indian youth begun at Lebanon, Conn., in 1754, and 
removed to Hanover, N. H, where a charter for a 
college was issued by the last of the royal Governors 
of the State, John Wentworth, December 13, 1769. 
Rutgers College was chartered by Governor William 
Franklin of New Jersey, in 1770, and the next year 
was begun at Brunswick, the object being to perpetuate 
the theology and forms of worship of the Dutch Church. 
The last of the colleges established before the Revo- 
lution was Hampden-Sidney, of Virginia, founded in 
1775, but not chartered until after the peace, in 1784. 
The founders showed their sentiments in giving it 
the names of John Hampden, the heroic opponent 
of Charles I., and Algernon Sidney, the Republican 
victim of Judge Jeffreys, and they are still further shown 
by the provision of its charter, that " in order to pre- 
serve in the minds of the students that sacred love 
and attachment which they should ever bear to the 
principles of the present glorious revolution, the 
greatest care and caution shall be used in electing 



PA TRIO TISM A X I) L K. 1 R NING. 589 

professors and masters, to the end that no person 
shall be so elected unless the uniform tenor of his 
conduct manifest to the world a sincere affection for 
the liberty and independence of the United States of 
America." These sentiments are not remarkable 
when we remember that Patrick Henry and James 
Madison were among the first trustees. 

Before peace had been declared, Maryland founded 
Washington College in 1782, as a State institution, 
and the work of college building went on with con- 
stantly increasing momentum. The Presbyterians of 
Pennsylvania established Dickinson College at 
Carlisle, saying that "the great embarrassments 
learning lay under during the war, pointed out as a 
virtue particularly commendable to use our endeavors 
to revive the drooping sciences. Gratitude to God 
for the prosperous conclusion of the war laid us under 
obligation, our new relations to the other nations of 
the world, and especially the important interests of 
religion and virtue in this growing empire." In 1785, 
the University of Nashville began as Davidson Acad- 
emy ; in 1789 South Carolina founded the College of 
Charleston; Williams College followed in 1793, 
from the bequest of Colonel Ephraim Williams, who 
was killed in 1755, near Lake George, in the French 
and Indian War ; the same year North Carolina began 
its university at Chapel Hill : two years later, Union 
College was chartered at Schenectady, and named in 
token of the union of different evangelical religious 
bodies interested in it ; in 1797, Middlebury College 
was begun in Vermont. Thus legislatures and relig- 
ious bodies emulated the examples of single individu- 
als in extending the opportunities for the higher edu- 



590 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

cation throughout the land. It was reserved for our 
own generation to complement these institutions for 
men by the endowment of great colleges and well-fitted 
seminaries for the higher education of women. Brad- 
ford Academy, in Massachusetts, is the oldest of these, 
but Mount Holyoke Seminary, Monticello Seminary, 
in Illinois, the Western Female Seminary, in Oxford, 
Ohio, Abbott Academy, at Andover, Mass., Smith 
College, Wellesley College, Vassar College, and many 
other institutions exclusively for women, are doing a 
great work for the sex. 

Most of these colleges and seminaries began with 
a distinct intention to give theological instruction. 
This was the design of Harvard, (the motto of which 
is, " for Christ and the Church,") and of Yale. But as 
time passed, it became evident that there was a need 
for schools of theology independent of the colleges, 
and they have been founded by most of the different 
religious bodies. 

In addition to these institutions, there have been 
established at many centres, schools of science, medi- 
cine, agriculture, music, oratory, and other branches 
of general knowledge, most of which are filled with 
diligent students. 

In the domain of literature the history of America 
is divided into three epochs : the Colonial period, the 
Revolutionary era, and the period of national life. 
During the Colonial period most of the reading of the 
people was imported from England, and there was no 
well-defined American literature. The same topics 
interested men on both sides of the ocean, and 
beyond the clergy, there existed no strictly literary 



AMKHICA.X UTKH.lTrRE. 593 

class. To this era belong such writers as the Mathers, 
Charles Chauncey, Ezra Stiles, of Yale College, Samuel 
Johnson, of Columbia College, Thomas Prince, Jona- 
than Edwards, and Benjamin Franklin. The two last 
mentioned stand as representatives of classes, the 
first having been pronounced by Sir James Mackintosh, 
the metaphysician of America, "perhaps unmatched, 
certainly unsurpassed, among men." Benjamin Frank- 
lin was the incarnation of the common sense of the 
period ; a " self-made " man. He took advantage of 
every opportunity for improvement, and rose from 
one post of influence to another, until he was acknowl- 
edged the greatest diplomatist of the century. From 
] 7j6, when he entered political life, he was the most 
prominent figure in American affairs. lie was Post- 
master-General, Governor of Pennsylvania, and minis- 
ter to France, and in every station he showed the same 
equipoise and power. 

Sermons constituted, therefore, the mass of print 
of the colonial press. Science had not advanced 
beyond the empirical stage. Journalism made some 
progress, and there began to be discussions of political 
subjects as the time approached when the people 
were to assert their independence. 

During the Revolution there arose many strong 
writers, who discussed the topics connected with gov- 
ernment, among whom may be mentioned James 
Otis, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John 
Jay, James Madison, John Adams, Fisher Ames, 
Jeremy Belknap, Chief Justice Marshall, William 
Wirt, Samuel Hopkins, Timothy Dwight, Alexander 
Graydon, Philip Freneau, Joel Barlow, Joseph Hopkin- 
son, Joseph Dennie, and Thomas Jefferson. Poetr) 



594 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

was little cultivated at this period, and the little that 
was written was to be commended rather for its 
patriotic sentiments than for its poetic inspiration. 

After the Revolution the cultivation of literature 
made slow progress, and for many years there was no 
class known as authors; but most of the writers were 
persons engaged in other employments, the books 
being still produced mainly by the clergy and instruc- 
tors in educational institutions. It was not until 
after the late Civil War that the importance of trust- 
ing to American environment for subjects and atmos- 
phere became sufficiently impressed upon writers to 
make its influence distinctly evident in their works as 
a body. The generation previous had been marked 
by such men as Daniel Webster, who was a states- 
man rather than an author, Washington Irving, who 
was not unmarked by the influences of Scott and the 
essayists, William Cullen Bryant, upon whom the 
influence of Wordsworth was great, William H. 
Prescott, Richard Henry Dana, James Fenimore 
Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Haw- 
thorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who were in 
some degree seeking to find their inspiration in 
themes connected with their own country. After 
them came the now venerable Quaker poet, John 
Greenleaf Whittier, the perennially youthful Doctor 
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mrs. Harriet Beechcr Stowe, 
whose great novel marks the anti-slavery struggle, 
and whose poems are among the sweetest that Amer- 
ica has produced, John Lothrop Motley, the dignified 
and careful historian, James Russell Lowell, the 
scholarly poet and genial essayist and critic, before 
the new school of authors came upon the stage. 



AMERICA V VERSATILITY 



595 



It is too early to write the history of the present 
authors of America, of whom it can be truly said thai 
they bid fair to raise authorship higher than ever. 
They comprise poets like Paul Hamilton Hayne, 
novelists like William Dean Howells and Henry 
James, critics like Edmund Clarence Stedman, and 




STONE HALL. 
WELLE8LE) COLLEGE. 



metaphysicians, essayists, theologians, scientists, 
students of educational problems, all of whom are 
working with earnest effort, and their future is full of 
promise. 

The age is called a practical age, but it is employed 
with themes of the loftiest concern, which are not 
generally classed as practical. Never did discus- 
sion of moral, mental or scientific principles have 



596 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

so strong a hold upon the readers and writers of 
America as they do at this moment; There is a ver- 
satility in the American character, and a determination 
to master the situation, that gives our thoughtful 

visitors from abroad 
ground for prophesy- 
in g a future for 
America grander 
than any native of 
the country would 
have felt like claim- 
ing. 

It was Herbert 
Spencer, the latest of 
these observers, who 
wrote on his return 
"The Americans 
may reasonably look 
forward to a time 
when they will have 
WILLIAMDEA produced a civiliza- 

tion grander than any the world has known." "The 
world has never before seen social phenomena at all 
comparable with those presented in the United States. 
A society spreading over enormous tracts, while still 
preserving its political continuity, is a new thing." 
" The eventual mixture of the allied varieties of the 
Aryan race forming the population will produce a finer 
type of man than has hitherto existed . and a type of 
man more plastic, more adaptable, more capable of 
undergoing the modifications needful for complete 
social life." 

In emphasizing the plastic and adaptable nature 




SPi V /:/.■ ON AMERICA. 597 

of the American character, Mr. Spencer points ti> 
marked traits arising from the circumstances through 
which the people have passed in the New World. 
They will not forget that their present has grown 
from their past, and that much that is great among 
them has come from the devout examples of their 
Washingtons, and Lincolns, and Garfields, who are 
but representatives of the thousands of God-fearing 
men and women who revere the memories of the 
fathers and worship the God whom the)- adored. 

In closing, let us make our own the eloquent 
words of Daniel Webster, uttered in the Senate 
Chamber at Washington, in 1850. They are as 
applicable in our day as they were a generation ago. 
" Never," said he, " did there devolve upon any gem 
ration of men higher trusts than now devolve upon 
us, for the preservation of this Constitution, and the 
harmony and peace of all who are destined to live 
under it. Let us make our generation one of the 
strongest and brightest links in that golden chain 
which is destined, I fondly believe, to grapple the 
people of all the States to this Constitution for ages 
to come. We have a great, popular, constitutional 
government, guarded by law and by judicature, and 
defended by the whole affections of the people. No 
monarchial throes press these States together ; no 
iron chain of military power encircles them ; the)' live 
and stand upon a government popular in its form. 
representative in its character, founded upon princi- 
ples of equality, and so constructed, we hope, as to 
last forever. In all its history it has been beneficent ; 
it has trodden down no man's liberty : it has crushed 
no State. Its dail) respiration is liberty and patriot 



598 THE NEW ERA OF NATIONAL LIFE. 

ism ; its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, 
courage, and honorable love of glory and renown. 
Large before, the country has now, by recent events, 
become vastly larger. This Republic now extends 
with a vast breadth, across the whole Continent. 
The two great seas of the world wash the one and the 
other shore. We realize on a mighty scale, the beau- 
tiful description of the ornamental edging of the 
buckler of Achilles : 

Now the broad shield complete, the artist crowned 
With his last hand, and poured the ocean round; 
In living silver seemed the waves to roll, 
And beat the buckler's verge and bound the whole." 




DOCUMENTS 

Illustrating the Constitutional History of the United 
States from 1620 to the present time. 

I. The Social Compact mowed in the Cabin of mi. M \i flower, 

L620 

II. THE ABTICLE8 OI CONFEDERATION Ol THE NEW ENGLAND COLO- 

NIES, L648. 

III. The Declaration <>k Independence, 1776. 

IV. Articles of Confederation <>k the Thirteen Colonies, 1778. 

V. A Declaration of Rights, wade by the Represi hi \m\ bs •" 

the good People of Virginia, 1776. 

VI. The Constiti HON of THE I'mted States, 1787. 

VII. Amendments ro the Constitution. 
VIII. The Virginia Kksou-tionsof 1798. 

IX. The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. 

X. The Kentucky Resolutions <>k L799, i-v.-sf.d in response to 
the Resolutions ofthe other Statk> in reply i" ihe 
Hi boli 1 ions of 17U8. 



THE DOCUMENTARY BASIS 

1 >f the Representative government established by Governor Yeardley 
in Virginia, in 1619, has not been preserved. 

THE SOCIAL COMPACT 

.signed by the Pilgrims before landing at Plymouth, in 1620, on 
which they founded the Democratic government of the colony. 

'' In the name of God, Amen ; We, whose names are underwritten, 
the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne King James, by the grace 
of God, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland King, defender of the 
faith, etc., haveing undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advance- 
mente of the Christian faith and honor of our king and countrie, a 
voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, 
doe, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, 
and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a 
civil] body politick, for our better ordering and preservation and 
furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and, by vertue heareof, to enactc, 
constitute, and frame, such just and equal] laws, ordenances, acts, 
constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most 
meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie. Unto which 
we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes whereof we 
have hereunder subscribed our names, at Cap Codd, the nth of No 
vember, in the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, 
of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the 
fifty-fourth, Anno Domini, 1620. 

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

Betweene the plantations vnder the Gouernment of the Massachusetts 
the PI ant aeons vnder the Gouernment of New Plymouth, the 
PI ant aeons vnder the Gouernment of Connectacutt, and the 
Gouernment of New-Haven with the Plantacons in combinacon 

therewith. 

Whereas wee all came into Miese parts of America with one and the 
same end and ayme, namely, to advaunce the kingdom) oi our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospell in puiitic with 



602 DOCUMENTS. 

peace. And whereas in our settleinge (by a wise Providence of God) 
we are further dispersed vpon the Sea Coasts and Riuers then was at 
first intended, so that we cannot according to our desire, with conven- 
ience communicate in one Gouernment and Jurisdiccon. And whereas 
we live encompassed with people of seuerall Nations and Strang lan- 
guages which heareafter may proue injurious to vs or our posteritie. 
And forasmuch as the Natives have formerly committed sondry inso- 
lences and outrages vpon seueral Plantacons of the English and have 
of late combined themselues against vs. And seing by reason of those 
sad Distraccons in England, which they have heard of, and by which 
they know we are hindred from that humble way of seekinge advise or 
reapeing those comfortable fruits of protection which at other tymes 
we might well expecte. Wee therefore doe conceiue it our bounden 
Dutye without delay to enter into a present consotiation amongst our 
selues for mutual help and strength in all our future concernements : 
That as in Nation and Religion, so in other Respects we bee and con- 
tinue one according to the tenor and true meaninge of the ensuing 
Articles : Wherefore it is fully agreed and concluded by and betweene 
the parties or Jurisdiccons aboue named, and they joyntly and seuerally 
doe by these presents agreed and concluded that they all bee, and 
henceforth bee called by the Name of the United Colonies of New- 
England. 

II. The said United Colonies, for themselues and their posterities, 
do joyntly and seuerally, hereby enter into a firme and perpetuall 
league of frendship and amytie, for offence and defence, mutuall ad- 
vise and succour, vpon all just occations, both for preserueing and 
propagateing the truth and liberties of the Gospel, and for their owne 
mutual] safety and wellfare. 

III. It is further agreed That the Plantacons which at present are 
or hereafter shalbe settled within the limmetts of the Massachusetts, 
shalbe forever vnder the Massachusetts, and shall have peculiar Juris- 
diccon among themselues in all cases as an entire Body, and that Ply- 
mouth, Connecktacutt, and New Haven shall eich of them haue like 
peculier Jurisdiccon and Gouernment within their limmetts and in 
referrence to the Plantacons which already are settled or shall here- 
after be erected or shall settle within their limmetts respectiuely ; 
prouided that no other Jurisdiccon shall hereafter be taken in as a 
distinct head or member of this Confederacon, nor shall any other 
Plantacon or Jurisdiccon in present being and not already in combyna- 
con or vnder the Jurisdiccon of any of these Confederals be received 
by any of them, nor shall any two of the Confederats joyne in one 
Jurisdiccon without consent of the rest, which consent to be inter- 
preted as is expressed in the sixth Article ensuinge. 



ARTH //:> OF CONFEDERATION. 603 

IV. 1 1 is by these Confederate agreed that the charge of all just warrs, 
whether offensiue or defensiue, upon what part 01 membei of this 
Conf( soevei they tall, shall both in men and provisions, and 

all other Disbursements, be borne 1>\ all the parts of this Confedera- 
con, in different proporcons according to their different abilitie, in 
manner following, namely, that the Commissioners tor eich r urisdiccon 
from tyme to tune, as there shalbe occation, bring a true account and 
number of all the males in every Plantacon, or any way belonging to, 
or under their scuerall Jurisdiccons, of what quality or condition - 
they bee, from sixteene yeares old to threescore, being Inhabitants 
there. And That according to the different numbers which from tyme 
to tyme shalbe found in eich [urisdiccon, upon a true and just .,, 
i ount, the service of men and all charges of the warr be borne by the 
Poll : Mich [urisdiccon, or Plantacon, being left to their owne just 
course and custome of rating themselues and people according to their 
different estates, with due respects to their qualites and exemptions 
among themselues, though the Confederacon take no notice of any 
such priviledg: And that according to their differrent charge of eich 
Jurisdiccon and Plantacon, the whole advantage of the warr (if it 
please God to bless their Endeavours) whether it be in lands, goods 01 
persons, shall be proportionably deuided among the said Confi derats, 
V. It is further agreed That if any of these Jurisdiccons, 01 any 
Plantacons vnder it, or in any combynacon with them be envadi 
any enemie whomsoeuer, vpon notice and request of any three majes- 
trats of that Jurisdiccon so invaded, the rest of the Confederates, with- 
out any further meeting or expostulacon, shall forthwith send ayde to 
the Confederate in danger, but in different proporcons ; namely, the 
Massachusetts an hundred men sufficiently armed and provided for 
such a service and jorney, and eich of the rest fourty-fuie so armed 
and provided, or any lesse number, if lesse be required, according to 
this proporcon. But if such Confederate in danger may lie supplyed 
by their next Confederate, not exceeding the number hereby agreed, 
they may crane help there, and seeke no further for the present. The 
charge to be borne as in this Article is exprest : And, at the returne, 
to be victualled and supplyed with podcr and shott for their journey 
(if there be neede) by that Jurisdiccon which employed or sent foi 
them: But none of the Jurisdiccons to exceed these numbers till by 
a meeting of the Commissioners for this Confederacon a greater avd 
appeare necessary. And this proporcon to continue, till upon knowl- 
edge of greater numbers it; eich Jurisdiccon which shalbe brought to 
the next meeting some other proporcon be ordered. But in any sm h 
case of sending men for present ayd whether before or after such 
order or alteracon, it is agreed that at the meeting of the Commission- 



604 DOCUMENTS. 

ers for this Confederacon, the cause of such warr or invasion be duly 
considered: And if it appeare that the fault lay in the parties so in- 
vaded, that then that Jurisdiccon or Plantacon make just Satisfaccon, 
both to the Invaders whom they have injured, and beare all the 
charges of the warr themselves without requireing any allowance from 
the rest of the Confederals towards the same. And further, that if 
any Jurisdiccon see any danger of any Invasion approaching, and 
there be tyme for a meeting, that in such case three majestrats of that 
Jurisdiccon may summon a meeting at such convenyent place as them- 
selues shall think meete, to consider and provide against the threatned 
danger, Provided when they are met they may remoue to what place 
they please, Onely whilst any of these foure Confederats have but 
three majestrats in their Jurisdiccon, their request or summons from 
any two of them shalbe accounted of equall force with the three men- 
toned in both the clauses of this Article, till there be an increase of 
majestrats there. 

VI. It is also agreed that for the mannaging and concluding of all 
affairs proper and concerneing the whole Confederacon, two Commis- 
sioners shalbe chosen by and out of eich of these foure Jurisdiccons, 
namely, two for the Mattachusetts, two for Plymouth, two for Connec- 
tacutt and two for New Haven ; being all in Church fellowship with 
us, which shall bring full power from their seuerall generall Courts 
respectively to heare, examine, weigh and determine all affaires of our 
warr or peace, leagues, ayds, charges and numbers of men for warr 
divission of spoyles and whatsoever is gotten by conquest, receiueing 
of more Confederats for plantacons into combinacon with any of the 
Confederates, and all thinges of like nature which are the proper con- 
comitants or consequence of such a confederacon, for amytie, offence 
and defence, not intermeddleing with the gouernment of any of the 
Jurisdiccons which by the third Article is presented entirely to them- 
selves. But if these eight Commissioners, when they meete, shall not 
all agree, yet it is concluded that any six of the eight agreeing shall 
have power to settle and determine the business in question : Rut if 
six do not agree, that then such proposicons with their reasons, so farr 
as they have beene debated, be sent and referred to the foure generall 
Courts, vizt. the Mattachusetts, Plymouth, Connectacutt, and New 
Haven : And if at all the said Generall Courts the businesse so 
referred be concluded, then to bee prosecuted by the Confederates 
and all their members. It is further agreed that these eight Commis- 
sioners shall meete once every yeare, besides extraordinary meetings 
(according to the fift Article) to consider, treate and conclude of all 
affaires belonging to this Confederacon, which meeting shall ever be 
the first Thursday in September. And that the next meeting after the 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 605 

date of these presents, which shalbc accounted the second meeting, 
shalbe al Bostone in the Massachusetts, the third at Hartford. 
the fourth at New Haven, the lift at Plymouth, the sixt and seaventh 
at Bostone. And then Hartford, New Haven and Plymouth, and so 
in course successiuely, if in the meane tyme some middle place be not 
found out and agreed on which may be commodious for all the juris- 
diccons. 

VII. It is further agreed that at eich meeting of these eight Com- 
missioners, whether ordinary <>r extraordinary, they, or six of them 
agreeing, i^ before, may choose their President out of themselues, 
whose office and worke shalbe to take care and direct tor order and a 
comely carrying on of all proceedings in the present meeting. Hut he 
shalbe invested with no such power or respect as b) which he shall 
hinder the propounding or progresse of any businesse, or any way cast 
the Scales, otherwise then in the precedent Article is agreed. 

VIII. It is also agreed that the Commissioners for this Confed- 
eracon hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary or extraordinary, 
as they may have commission or opertunitie, do endeavoure to frame 
and establish agreements and orders in gencrall cases of a civill nature 
wherein all the plantacons arc interested for preserving peace among 
themselues, and preventing as much as may bee all occations of warr 
or difference with others, as about the free and speedy passage of Jus- 
tice in every Jurisdiccon, to all the Confederals equally as their 
owne, receiving those that remoue from one plantacon to another 
without due certefycats ; how all the Jurisdiccons may carry it towards 
the Indians, that they neither grow insolent nor be injured without clue 
satisfaccion, lest warr break in vpon the Confederates through su< h 
miscarryage. It is also agreed that if any servant rutin away from 
his master* into any other of these confederated Jurisdiccons, That in 
such Case, vpon the Certyficate of one Majistrate in the Jurisdiccon 
out of which the said servant fled, or upon other due proofe, the said 
servant shalbe deliuered either to his Master or any other that pursues 
and brings such Certificate or proofe. And that vpon the escape of 
any prisoner whatsoever or fugitiue for any criminal cause, whether 
breaking prison or getting from the officer or otherwise escaping, upon 
the certificate of two Majistrats of the Jurisdiccon out of which 
the escape is made that he was a prisoner or such an offender at the 
tyme of the escape. The Majestrates or some of them of that Juris 

* This stipulation regarding the rendition of fugitives, apprentices and 
slaves was not imitated in the • I lonfederation," of 1778, but a simi- 

lar provision was made in the Constitution of the 1 le IV, 

n ?, and in accordance witli it special laws were enacted bj Congress in 
17^3 and 1S50. 



(506 DOCUMENTS. 

diccon where for the present the said prisoner or fugitive abideth shall 
forthwith graunt such a warrant as the case will beare for the appre- 
hending of any such person, and the delivery of him into the hands of 
the officer or other person that pursues him. And if there be 
help required for the safe returneing of any such offender, then it shal- 
be graunted to him that craves the same, he paying the charges 
thereof. 

IX. And for that the justest warrs may be of dangerous con- 
sequence, espetially to the smaler plantacons in these vnited Colonies, 
It is agreed that neither the Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connectacutt 
nor New-Haven, nor any of the members of any of them shall at any 
tyme hereafter begin, undertake, or engage themselues or this Confed- 
eracon, or any part thereof in any warr whatsoever (sudden exegents 
with the necessary consequents thereof excepted) which are also to be 
moderated as much as the case will permit) without the consent and 
agreement of the forenamed eight Commissioners, or at least six of 
them, as in the sixt Article is provided: And that no charge be 
required of any of the Confederats in case of a defensiue warr till the 
said Commissioners haue mett and approued the justice of the warr, 
and have agreed vpon the sum of money to be levyed, which sum is 
then to be payd by the severall Confederates in proporcon according 
to the fourth Article. 

X. That in extraordinary occations when meetings are summoned 
by three Majistrats of any Jurisdiccon, or two as in the fift Article, If 
any of the Commissioners come not, due warneing being given or sent, 
It is agreed that foure of the Commissioners shall have power to 
direct a warr which cannot be delayed and to send for due proporcons 
of men out of eich Jurisdiccon, as well as six might doe if all mett ; 
but not less than six shall determine the justice of the warr or allow 
the demanude of bills of charges or cause any levies to be made for 
the same. 

XI. It is further agreed that if any of the Confederates shall here- 
after break any of these present Articles, or be any other wayes injuri- 
ous to any one of thother Jurisdiccons, such breach of Agreement, or 
injurie, shalbe duly considered and ordered by the Commissioners for 
thother Jurisdiccons, that both peace and this present Confederacon 
may be entirely presented without violation. 

XII. Lastly, this perpetuall Confederacon and the several Articles 
and Agreements thereof being read and seriously considered, both by 
the Generall Court for the Massachusetts, and by the Commissioners 
for Plymouth, Connectacutt and New Haven, were fully allowed and 
confirmed by three of the forenamed Confederates, namely, the Massa- 
chusetts, Connectacutt and New-Haven, Onely the Commissioners for 



THE DEC LA RA TION OF INDEPENDEX < 'R tin? 

Plymouth, having no Commission to conclude, desired respite till thev 
might advise with their General] Court, whercvpon it was agreed and 
concluded by the said court of the Massachusetts, and the Commis- 
sioners for the other two Confederates, That if Plymouth Consent, 
then the whole treaty as it stands in these present articles is and shail 
continue firme and stable without alteracon : But if Plymouth come not 
in, yet the other three Confederates doe by these presents confirme 
the whole Confederacon and all the Articles thereof, onely, in Sep- 
tember next, when the second meeting of the Commissioners is to be 
at Bostone, new consideracon may be taken of the sixt Article, which 
concernes number of Commissioners for meeting and concluding the 
affaires of this Confederacon to the satisfaccon of the court of the 
Massachusetts, and the Commissioners for thother two Confederates, 
but the rest to stand vnquestioned. 

In testymony whereof, the Generall Court of the Massachusetts by 
their Secretary, and the Commissioners for Connectacutt and New- 
Ihiven haue subscribed these presente articles, this xixth of the third 
month, commonly called May, Anno Domini, 1643. 

At a Meeting of the Commissioners for the Confederacon, held at 
Boston, the Seaventh of September. It appeareing that the Generall 
Court of New Plymouth, and the severall Towneships thereof have 
read, considered and approoued these articles of Confederacon, as 
appeareth by Comission from their Generall Court beareing Pate the 
xxixth of August, 1643, to Mr. Edward Winslowe and Mr. Will 
Collyer, to ratifye and confirme the same on their behalf, wee there- 
fore, the Comissioners for the Mattachusetts, Conecktacutt and New 
Haven, doe also for our seuerall Gouernments, subscribe vnto them. 
JOHN WINTHROP, governor ok Massachusetts, 
THO. DUDLEY, THEOPH. EATON, 

GEO. FENWICK, EDWA. HOPKINS, 

THOMAS GREGSON. 

A DECLARATION 

By the Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress 
assembled. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one 
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 
another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate 
and equal station to which the laws of nature, and of nature's God, 
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires 
that they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
separation. 



608 DOCUMENTS. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unaliena- 
ble rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed : 
that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to insti- 
tute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and 
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely 
to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, 
that governments, long established, should not be changed for light 
and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, 
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, 
than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms to which they are 
accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pur- 
suing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them 
under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. 
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies ; and such is 
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems 
of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a 
history of repeated injuries and usurpations," all having, in direct 
object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To 
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary 
for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his 
assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large 
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of 
representation in the legislature : a right inestimable to them, and for- 
midable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom- 
fortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, 
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his 
measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses, repeatedly, for opposing, 
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of an- 
nihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise ; the 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 009 

State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers ol inva- 
sion from without, and convulsions within 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for 
that purpose, obstructing the laws foi naturalization of foreigners, 
refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and rais- 
ing the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

lit lias obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

II' has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure ol 
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms 
"t officers to harass our people, and eat out their subsl 

II'- has kept among US, in time of peace, standing armies, without 
the consent of our legislatures. 

He lias affected to lender the military independent of, and SUperioi 
to, the civil power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign 
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving hi- 
nt to their acts of pretended legislation : 
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 
Foi protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment, for an) 
murders which theyshonld commit on the inhabitants of these States: 
For cutting off our trad'- with all parts of the world . 
Foi imposing taxes on us, without our consent : 
For depriving us, in many eases, of the benefits of trial by jury: 
For transporting us beyond sea-., to be tried for pretended offer 
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
Province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging 
it- 1 ndaries, so as to render it. at once, an example and lit instru- 
ment for introducing the same absolute rule into t] inies: 

l : taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, 
and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us, in all cases wh 

He has abdicted government here, by declaring us out of his pi 
tion, and waging war against us. 

lie ha- plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, 
and destroyed the lives of our peo 

Hi is, at this time, transporting large arnn n mercenaries, 

t" i "inplete theworks of death, desolation, and tyranny, alread) b< gun 
with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the 
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head ol a civilized 
nation. 



610 DOCUMENTS. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high 
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of 
their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has 
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress 
in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered 
only bv repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by 
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free 
people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. 
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts, by their legis- 
lature, to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have 
reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement 
here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and 
we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow 
these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connexions 
and correspondence. They too, have been deaf to the voice of justice 
and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, 
which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest 
of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefere, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Su- 
preme Judge of the World, for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in 
the name, and by authority of the good People of these Colonies, 
solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political 
connexion between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought 
to be, totally dissolved; and that, as Free and Independent 
States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which 
Independent States may of right do. And for tbe support of this 
declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Provi- 
dence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and 
our sacred honor. 

The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed, and 
signed by the following members : 

JOHN HANCOCK, 
[and fifty-rive others.] 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND UNION, till 

It was also 

Resolved, Thai copies o\ the Declaration b< ien1 to the several 
Assemblies, Conventions, and Committees or Councils of Safety, and 
to the several commanding officers of the Continental troops; that it 
be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the head of 
tin.- army. 

ARTICLES OY CONFEDERATION AND PERPET- 
UAL UNION 

Between the States of New Hampshire. Massachusetts Bay, Rhode 
[sland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, Ni « 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro 
Tina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

A RTK i i I. The style of this confederacy shall be, " The United 
Stai es 01 Ami ric \." 

ARTICLE II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and in- 
dependence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not, In 
this Confederation, expressly delegated to the United States in Con- 
issembled. 

ARTICLE [II. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm 
league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the 
security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare ; bind- 
ing themselves to assist each other against all force offered to, oi at- 
tacks made upon, them, or any of them, on account of religion, 
sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. 

ARTICLE IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friend- 
ship and intercourse among the people of the different States in this 
Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vaga- 
bonds, and fugitives from justice, excepted, shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States ; and 
the people of each State shall have free ingress and regress to and 
from any other State; and shall enjoy therein all the privileges oi 
trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and 
restrictions, as the inhabitants thereof respectively; provided, that 
such restriction shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal o( 
property imported into any State, to any other State of which the 
owner is an inhabitant ; provided also, that no imposition, duties, or 
restriction, shall be laid by any State, on the property of the United 
Spates, or either of them. 

If any person guilty of, or charged with, treason, felony, or other 
high misdemeanor, in any State, shall flee from justii e, and be found in 
any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the governor or 



612 DOCUMENTS. 

executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, and 
removed to the State having jurisdiction of his offence. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the 
records, acts and judicial proceedings, of the courts and magistrates of 
every other State. 

Article V. For the more convenient management of the general 
interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed 
in such manner as the legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in 
Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a 
power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at 
any time within the year, and send others in their stead, for the 
remainder of the year. 

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by 
more than seven, members ; and no person shall be capable of being 
a delegate for more than three years in any term gf six years ; nor 
shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office 
under the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit, 
receives any salary, fees, or emolument of any kind. 

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the 
States, and while they act as members of the committee of the States 

In determining questions in the United States in Congress assem 
I iled, each State shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached 
or questioned, in any court or place out of Congress; and the mem- 
bers of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and 
imprisonment, during the time of their going to, and from, and attend- 
ance on, Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. 

Article VI. No State, without the consent of the United States 
in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any em 
bassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty, 
with any king, prince, or State ; nor shall any person, holding any 
office of profit, or trust, under the United States, or any of them, ac- 
cept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, 
from any king, prince, or foreign state ; nor shall the United States in 
Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility. 

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or 
alliance whatever, between them, without the consent of the United 
States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes foi 
which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue. 

No State shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere with any 
stipulations in treaties entered into, by the United States in Congress 
assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in pursuance of any treaties, 
already proposed by Congress to the courts of France and Spain. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND UNION. 618 

No vessels >>f war shall be kept up, in tunc of peace, by any State, 
except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary, by the United 

Slates in Congress assembled, for the defence of such Stale, or its 
trade; nor shall am bod) of forces be kept up by an) State, in time oi 
peace, except such number only, as in the judgment of the United 
States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to gat 

the forts necessary for the defence of such State; but ever) 
shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficient!) 
aimed and accoutred; and shall provide and constantly have ready for 
use, in public stores t a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a 
proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage. 

No State shall engage in any war, without the consent of the United 
Status in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded 
by enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being 
formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the dan 
ger is SO imminent as not to admit of a delay, till the United States in 
< undress assembled can be consulted; nor shall any State grant com- 
missions to any ship or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, 
except it be after a declaration of war by the United States in Congrc ss 
assembled ; and then only against the kingdom or state, and the sub- 
jects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under such 
regulations as shall be established by the United States in Congress 
assembled ; unless such State be infested by pirates, in which vessels 
of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as 
danger shall continue, or until the United States in Congress assent! 
Med shall determine otherwise 

ARTICLE VII. When land forces are raised by any State for the 
common defence, all officers of, or under, the rank of colonel, shall be 
appointed by the legislature of each State, respectively, by whom sui h 
shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct; 
and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the 
appointment. 

ARTICLE VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that 
shall be incurred for the common defence, or general welfare, and 
allowed bythe United States in Congress assembled, shall lie defrayed 
..lit of a common treasury, which shall he supplied by th 
States in proportion to the value of all land within each State, granted 
to or survived for, any person, as such land and the buildings and im- 
provements thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode as the 
United States in Congress assembled, shall from time to time, direct 
and appoint The taxes for paying thai proportion shall be laid anil 
levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of th- several 



614 DOCUMENTS. 

States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress 
assembled. 

Article IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall 
have the sole and exclusive right and power, of determining on peace 
and war, except in the cases, mentioned in the sixth article • Of 
sending and receiving ambassadors : Entering into treaties and alli- 
ances ; provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made, whereby 
the legislative power of the respective States shall be restrained from 
imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners as their own people 
are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of 
any species of goods or commodities whatever : Of establishing rules 
for deciding, in all cases, what captures on land or water shall be 
legal; and in what manner prizes, taken by land or naval forces, in 
the service of the United States, shall be divided or appropriated : Of 
granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace- Appoint- 
ing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies, committed on the high 
seas ; and establishing courts, for receiving and determining, finally, 
appeals in all cases of captures ; provided, that no member of Con- 
gress shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last 
resort, on appeal, in all disputes and differences now subsisting, 
or that hereafter may arise, between two or more States, concerning 
boundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever ; which authority- 
shall always be exercised in the manner following : Whenever the 
legislative or executive authority, or lawful agent, of any State, 
in controversy with another, shall present a petition to Congress, stat- 
ing the mat^r in question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof 
shall be given, by order of Congress, to the legislative or executive 
authority of the other State in controversy ; and a day assigned for 
the appearance of the parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be 
directed to appoint, by joint consent, commissioners or judges, to 
constitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in question : 
but if they cannot agree, Congress shall name three persons, out 
of each of the United States ; and from the list of such persons each 
party shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until 
the number shall be reduced to thirteen ; and from that number, not 
less than seven, nor more than nine, names, as Congress shall direct, 
shall, in the presence of Congress, be drawn out, by lot; and the 
persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shall be 
commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the controversy, 
so always as a major part of the judges, who shall hear the cause, 
shall agree in the determination. And if either party shall neglect to 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND UNION. 615 

attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons which Congress 
shall judge sufficient, 01 being present shall refuse to strike, the Con- 
gress shall proceed to nominate three persons out of each State , and 
the Secretary of * longress shall strike in behalf of such party absenl 01 
refusing ; and the judgment and sentence of the court, to l>e appointed 
in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive. And 
it anj of the parties shall refuse to submit to the authority of such 
court, at i" appeal. 01 defend their claim or cause, the court shall, 
nevertheless, proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment, which shall 
in like manner be final and decisive ; the judgment, or sentence, and 
other proceedings, being in either case, transmitted to Congress, and. 
lodged among the acts of Congress, Eor the security of the parties 
1 ned • Provided that every commissioner, before he sit- in 
judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered by one ol the judges 
of the supreme or superior court of the- State, where the cause shall 
be tried, ' Well and truly to hear and determine the matter in ques- 
tion, according t<> the best ol his judgment, without favor, affection, 
or hope of reward:' Provided, also, that no state shall be deprived 
oi territory for the benefit of the United State- 
All controversies concerning the private right of soil 1 [aimed under 
different grants of two or- more States, whose jurisdictions, as they 
may respect such lands, and the States which passed such grants ate 
adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same time 
claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of juri 
tion, shall, on the petition of either party to the Congress of the 
I nited States, be finally determined, as near as may be, in the same 
manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting terri- 
torial jurisdiction between different States. 

The United State-, in Congress assembled, shall also have the sole 
and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value ol 
coin struck bv their own authority. 01 by that of the respective States, 
Fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United 
State- : Regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the 
Indians, not members of any of the States ; provided that the legisla- 
tive right <>l any State, within its own limits, be not infringed or 
violated : Establishing and regulating post-offices from one State 
to another, throughout all the United States, and exacting such po 
on the papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defraj 
the expenses of the said office: Appointing all officers of the land 
in the service of the United States, excepting regimental 
officers. Appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commis- 
sioning all officers whatever in the service of the United States: 



616 DOCUMENTS. 

Making rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces, and directing their operations. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to 
appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denomi- 
nated A committee of THE states, and to consist of one delegate 
from each State , and to appoint such other committees and civil 
officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the 
United States under their direction . To appoint one of their number 
to preside ; novided, that no person be allowed to serve in the office 
of President more than one year in any term of three yeais. 
To ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service 
of the United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for 
defraying the public expenses : To borrow money, or emit bills on the 
credit of the United States, transmitting every half year to the 
respective States an account of the sums of money so borrowed 
or emitted: To build and equip a navy : To agree upon the number 
of land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its quota, 
in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such State, which 
requisition shall be binding ; and thereupon the legislature of 
each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men, and 
clothe, arm and equip them, in a soldier-like manner, at the expense 
of the United States ; and the officers and men so clothed, armed and 
equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the time 
agreed on, by the United States in Congress assembled : but if the 
United States in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of cir- 
cumstances, judge proper that any State should not raise men, or 
should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other 
State should raise a greater number of men than its quota thereof, 
such extra number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed and 
equipped, in the same manner as the quota of such State ; unless the 
legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number cannot 
be safely spared out of the same ; in which case they shall raise, 
officer, clothe, arm and equip, as many of such extra number as they 
judge can be safely spared ; and the officers and men so clothed, 
armed and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within 
the time agreed on, by the United States in Congress assembled. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a 
war ; nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor 
enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the 
value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the 
defense and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit 
bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appro- 
priate money, nor agree upon the numbers of vessels of war to be built 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND UNION. 617 

or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor ap- 
point a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine States 
assent to the same ; nor shall a question on any other point, except foi 
adjourning from day to day, be determined, unless by the votes of a 
majority of the United States in Congress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to 
any time within the year, and to any place within the United States, 
so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the 
space of six months, and shall publish the journal of their proceeding:-* 
monthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliance 
military operations as in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas 
and nays of the delegates of each State, on any question, shall be 
entered on the journal, when it is desired by anv delegate ; and the 
delegates of a State, or any of them, at his or their request, shall be fur- 
nished with a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are 
above excepted, to lay before the legislatures of the several States. 

Article X. The committee of the States, or any nine of them, 
shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the 
powers of Congress as the United .States in Congress assembled, by 
tin consent of nine States, shall, from time to time, think expedient 
to vest them with ; provided that nc power be delegated to the said 
committee, for the exercise of which, by the Articles of Confederation, 
the voice of nine States, in the Congress of the United States assem- 
bled, is requisite. 

Article XI. Canada, acceding to this Confederation, and joining 
in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into and 
entitled to all the advantages of this Union ; but no other colony shall 
be admitted into the same unless such admission be agreed to by nine 
States. 

Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and 
debts contracted by or under the authority of Congress, before the 
assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present Confed- 
eration, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the 
United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said United 
States and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

Article XIII. Every State shall abide by the determinations of 
the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by 
this Confederation, are submitted to them. And the Art it les of this 
Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State ; and the 
Union shall be perpetual. Nor shall anv alteration at any time here- 
after be made in anv of them, unless such alteration be agreed to, in a 
Congress of the United States, and be afterward confirmed by the leg- 
islatures of every State. 



618 DOCUMENTS. 

And whereas, it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to 
incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Con- 
gress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify, the said Articles of 
Confederation and Perpetual Union : 

Know Ye, That we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the 
power and authority to us given for that purpose, do, by these pres- 
ents, in the name, and in behalf, of our respective constituents, fully 
and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said Articles of 
Confederation and Perpetual Union, and all and singular the matters 
and things therein contained. And we do further solemnly plight and 
engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by 
the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled, on all 
questions, which, by the said Confederation, are submitted to them; 
and that the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States 
we respectively represent ; and that the Union shall be perpetual. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. 

Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the ninth day of 
July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
eight, and in the third year of the Independence of America. 

[Here follow the signatures of the delegates from New Hampshire, 
the Massachusetts Bay, the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantation, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and 
Georgia. 48 in all.] 

A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, 

Made by the Representatives of the good People of Virginia, assem- 
bled in full and free Convention, which rights do pertain to them 
and their posterity as the basis and foundation of government. 

I. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and 
have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of 
society, they cannot by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity ; 
namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring 
and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and 
safety. 

II. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the 
people ; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all 
times amenable to them. 

III. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common 
benefit, protection and security of the people, nation or community ; 
of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which 



A DECLABATIOA OF BIGHTS. 019 

is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, 
and is most effectual I j secun d against the danger of maladministration; 

and that, when a government shall be found inadequate oi contrary to 
these purposes, a majority <>! the community hath an indubitable, 
unalienable and indefeasible right to reform, alter or abolish it, in 
such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal. 

I\ . That no man, or set of men. arc entitled to exclusive or 
rate emoluments or privileges from the community but in considera- 
tion of public services, which not being descendible, neither ought 
the offices of magistrate, legislator or judge to be hereditary. 

V. That the legislative, executive and judicial powers should be 
separate and distinct ; and thai the members then oi may be restrained 
n ' 'in oppression, by feeling and participating the burthens ol the 
people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, 
return into that body from which they wen originally taken, and the 
vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain and regular elections, in 
which all, or any part of the former members to be again eligible 
or ineligible, as the laws shall direct. 

VI. That all elections ought to be free, and that all men having 
Sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attach- 
ment to, the community, have the right of suffrage, and cannot be 
taxed, or deprived of their property for public uses, without their 
own consent, or that of their representatives so elected, nor bound by 
any law to which they have not in like manner assented, for the pub- 
lic good. 

VII. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, 
by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, 
is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised. 

VIII. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions, a man hath a 
right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be con- 
fronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his 
favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of twelve men of his 
vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found 
guilty; nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; that 
no man be deprived of his liberty, except by tin- law of the land or the 
judgment of his peers. 

IX. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive 
lines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments indicted. 

X. That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger ma', 
be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact 
committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whosi 
offence is not particularly described and supported by evidence, ar< 
grievous and oppressive, and ought not to be granted. 



620 DOCUMENTS. 

XI. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between 
man and man, the ancient trial by jury of twelve men is preferable to- 
any other, and ought to be held sacred. 

XII. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks 
of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments. 

XIII. That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the 
people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defence of a 
free State ; that standing armies in time of peace, should be avoided 
as dangerous to liberty ; and that in all cases the military should be 
under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. 

XIV. That the people have a right to uniform government; and 
therefore, that no government separate from or independent of the 
government of Virginia, ought to be erected or established within the 
limits thereof. 

XV. That no free government, or the blessing of liberty, can be 
preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, modera- 
tion, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by a frequent recurrence to 
fundamental principles. 

XVI. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and 
the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and con- 
viction, not by force or violence ; and therefore all men are equally 
entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of 
conscience ; and that it is the duty of all to practice Christian for- 
bearance, love and charity towards each other. 

[Passed June 12, 1776; adopted without alteration, by the conven- 
tion of 1850-1851. The bill was also adopted March 14, 1864. 

The constitutional convention which met at Richmond, Dec. 3, 1867, 
again reenacted the bill of rights, adding five articles, providing that 
Virginia should " ever remain a member of the United States of 
America, and that the people are thereof a part of the American 
nation, and that all attempts from whatever source or upon what- 
ever pretext, to dissolve said union or to sever said nation, are 
unauthorized and ought to be resisted with the whole power of the 
State." It asserted that the Constitution of the United States and the 
laws of Congress passed in accordance with it are the supreme law of 
the land, "to which paramount allegiance and obedience are due from 
every citizen, anything in the constitution, ordinances or laws of any 
State to the contrary notwithstanding." Other sections declared 
slavery abolished, that the rights of all the citizens of the State are 
equal.] 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 621 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA. 

We, mi PEOPLE OF THE UNITED States, iii order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro- 
vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America. 

ARTICLE 1. 

Section i. 

i. All Legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a Con- 
gress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a 
House of Representatives. 

Section r. 

i. The House 'it Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the 
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for elec- 
tors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which maybe included within this Union, according 
to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to 
the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service 
for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of 
all other persons.* The actual enumeration shall be made within 
three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United 
States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner 
as thev shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall 
not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at 
least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, 
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massa- 
chusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Con- 
necticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, 
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five. Soiuh 
Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

* This was altered by the XlVth amendment, Sec. 2. 



622 DOCUMENTS. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, 
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and 
other officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section 3. 

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six 
years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of 
the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as maybe, into three 
classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated 
at the expiration of the the second year ; of the second class, at the 
expiration of the fourth year ; and of the third class, at the expira- 
tion of the sixth year ; so that one-third may be chosen every second 
year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the 
recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make 
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, 
which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State 
for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of 
the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a Presi- 
dent pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he 
shall exercise the office of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice 
shall preside, and no person shall be convicted without the concur- 
rance of two-thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than 
to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
office of honor, trust, or profit, under the United States ; but the 
party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indict- 
ment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. 

Section 4. 

The times, places, and manner, of holding elections for Senators 
and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legisla- 



( (INSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. (i'23 

ture thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter 
such regulation.-, except as to the places of choosing Senator.-. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and 
Mich meeting shall be on the- first Monday in December, unless they 
shall by law appoint a different day. 

now 5. 

1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualification.-, of it- own members, and a majority of each shall con- 
stitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn 
from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of 
absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each 
House may provide. 

2. Each House may determine the rule- ol it- proceedings, pun- 
ish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of 
two-thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and, from 
time to time, publish the same, excepting such parts as mav in their 
judgment, require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of 
either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those 
present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. 

1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensa- 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the 
Treasury of the United State-. They shall, in all cases, except trca- 
son, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in 
going to, and returning from, the same; and for any speech or debate 
in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

j. Xo Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of 
the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased, during such time ; and no person, 
holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either 
House during his continuance in oi 

SliCTION 7. 
1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the Housi >t 



624 DOCUMENTS. 

Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amend- 
ments as on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 
tives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to 
the President of the United States ; if he approve, he shall sign it, but 
if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which 
it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large in their 
Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, 
two-thirds of the House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, 
together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall 
likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House 
it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses 
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons 
voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each 
House, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President 
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, 
unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which 
case it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolutions or vote, to which the concurrence of 
the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on 
a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the 
United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved 
by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules 
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Section 8. 

The Congress shall have power, — 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the 
debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare, of the 
United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises, shall be uniform 
throughout the United States: 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States: 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States and with the Indian tribes: 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws 
on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States : 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
and fix the standard of weights and measures : 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States : 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads : 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 625 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, 
for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to 
their respective writings and discovt ries : 

9. To constitute tribunals interior to the Supreme Court 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on high 
seas, and offences against the law of nations: 

n. To declare war. grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water . 

\2. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years : 

13. To provide and maintain a navy; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land 
and naval forces : 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to exi 1 ute the laws ol 
the Union, supress insurrections and repel invasions : 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia 
and for governing such pari of them as may be employed in the service 
of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appoint- 
ment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia, according 
to the discipline prescribed by Congress: 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession 
of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become thi 

of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority 
over all places, purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, 
arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings: And, — 

iS. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers 
\e-~ted by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or 
in any department or officer thereof. 

Skction 9. 

1. The migration or importation of such persons, as any of the 
States, now existing, shall think proper to admit, -hall not be prohib- 
ited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight : but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not 

ling ten dollars for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended 
unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may 
require it. 

3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law shall be passed 

4. No capitation or other direct tax. shall lie laid, unless in 



626 DOCUMENTS. 

proportion to the census or enumeration, hereinbefore directed to be 
taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
revenue, to the ports of one States over those of another, nor shall 
vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay 
duties, in another. 

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence 
of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published 
from time to time. 

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and 
no person, holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall 
without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolu- 
ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or 
foreign state. 

Section 10. 

1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation; 
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bill of credit; 
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; 
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the 
obligation of contracts* or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely 
necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all 
duties and imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be 
for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws 
shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No State 
shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep 
troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement 
or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in 
war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will 
not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section i. 

1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United 

* This clause was inserted on account of the troubles arising from laws passed 
by various States after the Revolution, impairing the obligations of contracts by 
the issuing of paper money. A similar clause is found in the Ordinance for the 
government of the Northwest Territory, which is attributed to Richard Henry 
Lee of Virginia. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 827 

States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of tour 
years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen for the .same term, 
be elected as follows : 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number 
of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in 
the Congress ; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding 
an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an Elector. 

[The Electors shall meet in theil respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one, at least, shall not be an inhabit- 
ant of the same State with themselves. And thej shall make a list of 
all the person.-, voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which 
list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed, to the seat of the 
government of the United States, directed to the President of the 
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the 
votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number 
of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of Klectors appointed; and if there be more than one 
who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the 
House of Representatives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of 
them for President; and if no person have a majority, then, from the 
five highest on the list, the said House shall, in like manner, choose 
the President, but in choosing the President, the votes shall be- 
taken by States, the Representative from each State having one vote ; 
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be 
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the Presi- 
dent, the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors 
shall be the Vice-President. Put if there should remain two or more 
who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them, bv ballot, 
the Vice-President*] 

3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, 
and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be 
the same throughout the United States. 

4. No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall 
be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be 
eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty- 
five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United 
States. 

5. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of 
the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the 
Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, res 

*This elausL has been superseded by the Xllth Amendment, which changes 
the mode i>t electing the President and Vice-President. 



628 DOCUMENTS. 

tion or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring 
what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act 
accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be 
elected. 

6. The President shall, at stated limes, receive for his services a 
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not 
receive within that period any other emolument from the United 
States or any of them. 

7. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
following oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will faithfully execute the 
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my 
ability, preserve, protect, and defend, the Constitution of the United 
States." 

Section 2. 

1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States 
when called into the actual service of the United States ; he may 
require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the 
executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their 
respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and 
pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present 
concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public 
ministers, and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all 
other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but 
the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior 
officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of 
law, or in the heads of Departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen, during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Section 3. 

He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the 
state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on 



CONSTITUTION <>F THE UNITED STATES. 629 

extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or cither of them, 
and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of 
adjournment, lie may adjourn them t<> such time as he shall think 
proper ; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; be 

shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, anil shall com- 
mission all the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. 

The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con- 
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section i. 

The Judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one 
Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from 
time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme 
and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and 
shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which 
shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. 

Section 2. 

1. The Judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, 
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all 
cases affecting embassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; toall 
cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which 
the United States shall be a party : to controversies between two or 
more States, between a State and citizens of another State, between 
citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming 
lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the 
citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting embassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme 
Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before 
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both 
as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, 
as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be 
by jury : and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes 
shall have been committed ; hut when not committed within any 



630 DOCUMENTS. 

State, the trial shall be at such place, or places, as the Congress may 
by law have directed. 

Section 3. 

1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying 
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid 
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in 
open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or 
forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section i. 

Full faith and credit shall be giyen in each State to the public acts, 
records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the 
Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. 

1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and 
immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, 
shall on demand of the Executive authority of the State from which he 
fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of 
the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall 
be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor 
may be due.* 

Section 3. 

1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of 
any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or 

*This stipulation resembles that in article VIII. of the New England Colonial 
Confederation. On it were based the fugitive slave acts of Congress of 1793 
and 1S50. The third clause is borrowed in substance from the ordinance of 
17$7, establishing the government of the Northwestern Territory. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 681 

more States, or parts of States without the consent of the legislatures 
of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulation.- respecting the territory or other propertj 
belonging to the United State-; and nothing in this Constitution .shall 
be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of 
any particular State. 

Section 4. 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion; and, on application of the Legislature, or of the 
ntive (when the Legislature cannot he convened) against domes- 
tic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it nec- 
essary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the appli- 
cation of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call 
a convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either case, shall 
be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by 
conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of 
ratification may be proposed by the Congress: Provided, that no 
Amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no State, with- 
out its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the L'nited 
States under this Constitution as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the l'nited States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which 
siiail he made, under the authority of the L'nited States, -hail he the 
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be 
hound thereby, anything in the constitution of laws of any State to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judi- 
cial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall 



632 DOCUMENTS. 

be bound by oath, or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no 
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or 
public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the Convention of nine States shall be sufficient 
for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratify- 
ing the same 

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present 
the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the 
United States of America the twelfth, in witness whereof we have 
hereunto subscribed our names, 

GEO. WASHINGTON, President and Deputy from Virginia. 
New Hampshire. John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. 
Massachusetts. Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 
Connecticut. Sam Johnson, Roger Sherman. 
New York. Alexander Hamilton. 
New Jersey. Will Livingston, Wm. Patterson, David Brearley, 

Jona. Dayton. 
Pennsylvania. B. Franklin, Robt. Morris, Tho : Fitzsimons, 

James Wilson, Thomas Mifflin, Geo : Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, 

Gouv: Morris. 
Delaware. Geo : Read, John Dickinson, Jaco : Broom, Gunning 

Bedford, Jun'r, Richard Bassett. 
Maryland. James M'Henry, Dan. Carroll, Dan : of St. Thos. Jenifer. 
Virginia. John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 
North Carolina. Wm. Blount, Hu : Williamson, Rich'd Dobbs 

Spaight. 
South Carolina. J. Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotes- 
worth Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 
Georgia. William Few, Abr. Baldwin. 

Attest, WILLIAN JACKSON, Secretary. 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Congress of the United States, begun and held at the city of New York 
on Wednesday, the fourth of "March, one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-nine. 
The Convention of a number of the States, having at the time of 
their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to pre- 
vent rrftsfConstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory 



i i//:\ D u/ \ / <?. 688 

and restrictive clauses should be added i and, as extending the ground 
of public confidence in the ( rovernmenr, will l>est insure the beneficent 
ends of its Institution. 

Resolved by the Senate and Hottse of Representatives of the United States 
of America, in C- mbled, two-thirds oi both houses concurring, 

that the following articles be proposed to the legislatures of the sev- 
ei.il States, all or any of which articles, when ratified l>v three-fourths 
of said legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, a- a part of 
said Constitution ; \i/. 

Articles in addition to, and amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States of America, proposed bj Congress, and ratified by the 
legislatures of the several State- pursuant to the fifth article of the 
original < Constitution. 

[ARTICLE I.] 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 
or prohibiting the tree exen ise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assem- 
ble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

[ARTICLE I I.J 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms -.hall not be 
infringed. 

| \K HCLE III.] 

No soldier shall, in time of peai e, b quartered in any house with- 
out the consent of the ownei . nor in time of war, but in a mannei to 
be prescribed by law. 

[ARTICLE IV.] 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, -lull not be 
violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable . ause, sup 
ported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the plai 
be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

[article v.] 

No person- shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, 
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia 
when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any 
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of 



634 DOCUMENTS. 

life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a wit- 
ness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, with- 
out due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public 
use without just compensation. 

[ARTICLE VI.] 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall 
have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the 
witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his 

defense. 

[article vii.] 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no 
fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the 
United States than according to the rules of the common law 

[article viii.] 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

[article ix.] 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not he 
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

[article x.] 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respect- 
ively, or to the people.* 

[Two other articles of amendment were proposed at the first Congress, but 
were not ratified by the requisite number of States. They were the first and 
second, as follows : 

Article the First After the first enumeration required by the first 

article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty 
thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the pro- 
portion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than one 

* The first ten amendments were ratified by Dec. 15,1791. Patrick Henry, James 
Monroe, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and others, had wished to see such an 
article as the tenth amendment inserted originally, and had opposed the adoption 
of the Constitution because it did not expressly reserve to the States the powers 
not actually delegated. 



AMI \ DMM \ / - 

hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for ever) forty 
thousand persons, until the number oi Representatives shall amount to two hun- 
dred, after which the proportion shall be s, that there 
shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one R< 
sentative for everj fiftj thousand persons 

Vrticle Second No law varying the compensation for the services 

oi the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election ol R< n 
resentatives shall have intervened.] 

I aki m i xi. | 

The judicial power oi the United States shall not be construed to 
extend to any suit m law or equity commenced 01 prosecuted against 
one of the United States by citizens oJ another .Mate, oi bj citizens or 
subjects of any foreign State.* 

[article XII.] 

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall 
name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct 
ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make 
distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and oi all pcrsuns 
voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which 
lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the 
government of the United States, directed to tin- President of the 
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the 
votes shall then be counted ; the person having the greatest numl 
votes tor President shall be the President, if such number be a mail >i it\ 
<>f the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have 
such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not 
ling three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House 
of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 
Put in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the 
representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
And if the I iouse of Representatives shall not choose a President, when- 
ever tin- righl of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day 

of March next following, then the Yin-President shall a< I ;i- President, 
as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of 

* The eleventh amendment was declare 1 ratified I 



636 DOCUMENTS. 

the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a 
majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate 
shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall con- 
sist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of 
the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person con- 
stitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to 
that of Vice-President of the United States.* 

[article XIII.] 

i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 
ment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
shall exist within the United States, or anyplace subject to their juris- 
diction. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropri- 
ate legislation, t 

[ARTICLE XIV.] 

i. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and sub- 
ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and 
of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce 
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens 
of the United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, 
liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any per- 
son within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of 
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President 
and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, 
the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the 
Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such 
State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, 
or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other 
crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the pro- 
portion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or 
Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or 
military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having 
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer 

♦This amendment was declared adopted Sept. 25, 1S04. 

I The thirteenth amendment was declared adopted Dec. 18, 1865. 



VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS. i;37 

of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as 
an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebel- 
lion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. 
Bui Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove 
Such ili-ability. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United states, author- 
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and 
bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall 
not be questioned. Bui neither the United States nor any State 
shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insur- 
rection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss 
or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and 
claims shall be held illegal and void. 

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legis- 
lation, the provisions of this article.* 

[article xv.] 

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be 
denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account 
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by ap- 
propriate legislation. t 

VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS OF 1798, 

[Pronouncing the Alien and Sedition Laws to be Unconstitutional, and 
defining the Rights of the States, — drawn by Mr. Madison.] 

In the Virginia House of Delegates. 
Friday, December 21, 1798. 

Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia doth unequivocally 
express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Constitution of the 
United States and the Constitution of this state, against every aggres- 
sion, either foreign or domestic; and that they will support the 
government of the United States in all measures warranted by the 
former. 

That this Assembly most solemnly declares a warm attachment to 
the union of the states, to maintain which it pledges its powers; and 
that, for this end, it is their duty to watch over and oppose every infrac- 

•The fourteenth amendment was declared adopted, July 20. 1 
t The fifteenth amendment was declared adopted, March 10, 1810. 



fi38 DOCUMENT*. 

tion of those principles which constitute the only basis of that union, 
because a faithful observance of them can alone secure its existence 
and the public happiness. 

That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it 
views the powers of the federal government as resulting from the com- 
pact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and 
intention of the instrument constituting that compact, as no further 
valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that com- 
pact ; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise 
of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are 
parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose, for 
arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining, within their 
respective limits, the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to 
them. 

That the General Assembly cloth also express its deep regret, that a 
spirit has, in sundry instances, been manifested by the federal govern- 
ment to enlarge its powers by forced constructions of the constitutional 
charter which defines them ; and that indications have appeared of a 
design to expound certain general phrases (which, having been copied 
from the very limited grant of powers in the former Articles of Confed- 
eration, were the less liable to be misconstrued ) so as to destroy the 
meaning and effect of the particular enumeration which necessarily 
explains and limits the general phrases, and so as to consolidate the 
states, by degrees, into one sovereignty, the obvious tendency and 
inevitable result of which would be, to transform the present republican 
system of the United States, into an absolute, or, at best, a mixed 
monarchy. 

That the General Assembly doth particularly PROTEST against the pal- 
pable and alarming infractions of the Constitution, in the two late eases 
of the " Alien and Sedition Acts" passed at the last session of Congress ; 
the first of which exercises a power nowhere delegated to the federal 
government, and which, by uniting legislative and judicial powers to 
those of executive, subverts the general principles office government, as 
well as the particular organization and positive provisions of the Federal 
Constitution ; and the other of which acts exercises, in like manner, a 
poiver not delegated by the Constitution, but, on the contrary, expressly and 
positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto — a power which 
more than any oilier, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is 
levelled against the right of freely examining public characters and 
measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has 
ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right. 

That this state having, by its Convention, which ratified the Federal 
Constitution, expressly declared that, among other essential rights 



VI lit; I. MA UEHOLUTION. 639 

" the liberty of conscience and the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, 
restrained, or modified, by any authority of the United States," and 
from its extreme anxiety to guard these rights from every possible 
attack of sophistry and ambition, having, with other states, recom- 
mended an amendment for that purpose, which amendment was, in 
due time, annexed to the Constitution — it would mark a reproachful 
inconsistency, and criminal degeneracy, if an indifference were now- 
shown to the most palpable violation of one of the rights thus declared 
and secured, and to the establishment of a precedent which may be 
fatal to the other. 

That the good people of this commonwealth, having ever felt, and 
continuing to feel, the most sincere affection for their brethren of the 
other states ; the truest anxiety for establishing and perpetuating the 
union of all ; and the most scrupulous fidelity to that Constitution, 
which is the pledge of mutual friendship, and the instrument of mutual 
happiness — the General Assembly doth solemnly appeal to the like 
dispositions in the other states, in confidence that they will concur 
with this commonwealth in declaring, as it does hereby declare, that 
the acts aforesaid are unconstitutional ; and that the necessary and 
proper measures will be taken by each for cooperating with this state, 
in maintaining unimpaired the authorities, rights, and liberties, reserved 
to the states respectively, or to the people. 

That the governor be desired to transmit a copy of the foregoing 
resolutions to the executive authority of each of the other states, with 
a request that the same may be communicated to the legislature 
thereof, and that a copy be furnished to each of the senators and 
representatives representing this state in the Congress of the United 
.States. 

Attest, John Stewart. 

1798, December 24. Agreed to by the Senate. 

H. Brooke. 

A true copy from the original deposited in the office of the General 
Assembly. 

John Stewart, Keeper of Rolls. 



H4<i DOCUMENTS. 

KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798. 

[The original draft was prepared by Thomas Jefferson.] 

1. Resolved, That the several states composing the United States 
of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to 
their general government ; but that, by compact, under the style and 
title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments 
thereto, they constituted a general government for special purposes, 
delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each 
state to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; 
and that whensoever the general government assumes undelegated 
powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force ; that to this 
compact each state acceded as a state, and is an integral party ; that 
this government created by this compact, was not made the exclusive 
or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself, since that 
would have made its discretion, and not the constitution, the measure 
of its powers : but that, as in all other cases of compact among parties 
having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for 
itself, as Well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress. 

2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States having 
delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the 
securities and current coin of the United States, piracies and felonies 
committed on the high seas, and offences against the laws of nations, 
and no other crimes whatever ; and it being true, as a general principle, 
and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared 
" that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitu- 
tion, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states 
respectively, or to the people," — therefore, also, the same act of Con- 
gress, passed on the 14th day of July, 179S, and entitled "An Act in 
Addition to the Act entitled ' An Act for the Punishment of certain 
Crimes against the United States; ' " as also the act passed by them 
on the 27th day of June, 179S, entitled "An .Act to punish Frauds 
committed on the Bank of the United States," (and all other their acts 
which assume to create, define, or punish crimes other than those 
enumerated in the Constitution,) are altogether void, and of no force ; 
and that the power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is 
reserved, and of right appertains, solely and exclusively, to the 
respective states, each within its own territory. 

3. Resolved, That it is true, as a general principle, and is also 
expresslv declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution, that 
" the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respect- 



KENTUCB. V RESOLUTION S. 641 

ively, '>r t«> the j >c-< »] >K- ; and that, no power over the freedom 
of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press, being 
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohib- 
ited by it to the states, ill lawful powers respecting the same 
did "f right remain, and were reserved to the states, or to the people; 
that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves 
the right "f judging how tar the licentiousness of speech, and of the 
press, may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and 
how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use. should 
be tolerated rather than the use be destroyed, and thus also they 
guarded against all abridgment, by the L'nited States, of the freedom 
of religious principles and exercises, and retained to themselves the 
right of protecting the same, as this, stated by a law passed on the 
general demand of its citizens, had already protected them from all 
human restraint or interference; and in addition to this general prin- 
ciple and express declaration another and more special provision has 
l>een made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which 
expressly declares that " Congress shall make no laws respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or 
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,*' thereby guarding, in 
the same sentence, anil under the same words, the freedom of religion, 
of speech, and of the press, insomuch that whatever violates either 
throws down the sanctuary which covers the others, — and that libels, 
falsehood, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are 
withheld from the cognizance of federal tribunals. That therefore the 
the Congress of the United States, passed on the 14th of July, 
1 7< kS. entitled "An Act in Addition to the Ait entitled ' An Act for 
the Punishment of certain Crimes against the United States,'" which 
does abridge the freedom of the press, is not law. but is altogether 
void, and of no force. 

4. Resolved, that alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protec- 
tion of the laws of the state wherein they are , that no power over them 
has been delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the individual 
States, distinct from their power over citizens ; and it being true, as a 
general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution 
having also declared, that "the powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states are reserved 
to the states respectively, or to the people," the act of the Congi 

the United States passed the 22d <-\.i\ of June. 1798, entitled "An Act 
concerning Aliens." which assumes power over alien friends not dele 
gated by the Constitution, is not law. but is altogether void and of no 
force. 

5. Resolved, That in addition to the general principle, as well as the 



642 DOCUMENTS. 

express declaration, that powers not delegated are reserved, another 
and more special provision inserted in the Constitution from abundant 
caution, has declared, "that the migration or importation of such 
persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, 
shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year iSoS." That 
this commonwealth does admit the migration of alien friends described 
as the subject of the said act concerning aliens ; that a provision 
against prohibiting their migration is a provision against all acts equiv- 
alent thereto, or it would be migratory ; that to remove them, when 
migrated, is equivalent to a prohibition of their migration, and is, 
therefore, contrary to the said provision of the Constitution, and void. 

6. Resolved, That the imprisonment of a person under the protection 
of the laws of this commonwealth, on his failure to obey the simple 
order of the President to depart out of the United States, as is under- 
taken by the said act, entitled, " An Act concerning Aliens," is 
contrary to the Constitution, one amendment in which has provided, 
that "no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of 
law; " and that another having provided, " that, in all criminal prose- 
cutions, the accused shall enjoy the right of a public trial by an 
impartial jury to be informed as to the nature and cause of the 
accusation, to be confronted with witnesses against him. to have com- 
pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have 
assistance of counsel for his defence,'' the same act undertaking to 
authorize the President to remove a person out of the United States 
who is under the protection of the law, on his own suspicion, without 
jury, without public trial, without confrontation of the witnesses against 
him, without having witnesses in his favor, without defence, without 
counsel — contrary to these provisions also of the Constitution — is 
therefore not law, but utterly void, and of no force. 

That transferring the power of judging any person who is under the 
protection of the laws, from the courts to the President of the United 
States, as is undertaken by the same act concerning aliens, is against 
the article of the Constitution which provides, that " the judicial power 
of the United States shall be vested in the courts, the judges of which 
shall hold their office during good behavior," and that the said act is 
void for that reason also ; and it is further to be noted that this transfer 
of judiciary power is to that magistrate of the general government who 
already possesses all the executive, and a qualified negative in all the 
legislative powers. 

7. Resolved, That the construction applied by the general govern- 
ment (as is evident by sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of 
the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Congress 
power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, excises ; to pay the 



KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS 643 

debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare, of the 
United States, and to make all laws which shall be necessary and 

proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitu- 
tion in the government of the United Slate-, or any department 
thereof, goes to the destruction of all the limits prescribed to their 
power by the Constitution; thai words meant by that instrument to be 
subsidiary only to the execution of the limited powers, ought not to 
be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part 
so to be taken as to destroy the whole residue of the instrument; thai 
the proceedings of the general government, under color of those 
articles, will be a fit and necessary subject for revisal and correction at 
a time of greater tranquility, while those specified in the preceding 
resolutions call for immediate redress. 

S. Resolved, That the preceding resolutions be transmitted to the 
senators and representatives in Congress from this commonwealth, 
who are enjoined to present the same to their respective ho 
and to use their best endeavors to procure, at the next session ol 
Congress, a repeal of the aforesaid unconstitutional and obnoxious 
acts.* 

9. Resolved, lastly, That the governor of this commonwealth be, 
and is, authorized and requested to communicate the preceding resolu- 
tions to the legislatures of the several states, to assure them that this 
commonwealth considers union for special national purposes, and par- 
ticularly for those specified in their late federal compact, to be friendly 
to the peace, happiness, and prosperity of all the states ; that, faithful 
to that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in which it 
was understood and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely 
anxious for its preservation ; that it does also believe, that, to take 
from the states all the powers of self-government, and transfer them to 
a general and consolidated government, without regard to the special 
government, and reservations solemnly agreed to in that compact, is 
not for the peace, happiness, or prosperity of these states; and that, 
therefore, this commonwealth is determined, as it doubts not ii- 
co-states are, to submit to undelegated anil consequently unlimited 
powers in no man, or body of men, on earth, that, if the acts b 
specified should stand, these conclusions would flow from them— that 
the general government may place any act they think proper on the 
list of crimes, and punish it themselves, whether enumerated or not 
enumerated by the Constitution as cognizable by them ; that they may 

*This article is evidence that Kentucky proposed to take constitutional 
action, and not to proceed to such acts as Mr. Calhoun used 11 to support, in 
1832,— in addition to tin- statements made by Mr. Madison, in [830, to the 
effect that •• Nullification" and " Secession " were not intended by Mr [efferson, 
in- by him in framing the \ irginia Resolutions. 



64 1 DOCUMENTS. 

transfer its cognizance to the President, or any other person, who may 
himself be the accuser, counsel, judge and jury, whose suspicions 
may be the evidence, his order the sentence, his officer the execu- 
tioner, and his breast the sole record of the transaction; that a very 
numerous and valuable description of the inhabitants of these states, 
being, by this precedent, reduced, as outlaws, to absolute dominion of 
one man, and the barriers of the Constitution thus swept from us all, 
no rampart now remains against the passions and the power of a 
majority of Congress, to protect from a like exportation, or other 
grevious punishment, the minority of the same body, the legislatures, 
judges, governors, and counsellors of the states, nor their other peace- 
able inhabitants, who may venture to reclaim the constitutional rights 
and liberties of the states and people, or who, for other causes, good 
or bad, may be obnoxious to the view, or marked by the suspicions, of 
the President, or be thought dangerous to his or their elections, or 
other interests, public or personal ; that the friendless alien has been 
selected as the safest subject of a first experiment ; but the citizen will 
soon follow, or rather has already followed; for already has a Sedition 
Act marked him as a prey : That these and successive acts of the 
same character, unless arrested on the threshold, may tend to drive 
these states into revolution and blood, and will furnish new calumnies 
against republican governments, and new pretexts for those who wish 
it to be believed that man cannot be governed but by a rod of iron ; 
that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of 
our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights; that con- 
fidence is everywhere the parent of despotism ; free government is 
founded in jealousy, and not in confidence ; it is jealousy, and not con- 
fidence, which prescribes limited constitutions to bind down those 
whom we are obliged to trust with power; that our Constitution has 
accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no farther, our confidence 
may go ; and let the honest advocate of confidence read the Alien and 
Sedition Acts, and say if the Constitution has not been wise in fixing 
limits to the government it created, and whether we should be wise in 
destroying those limits ; let him say what the government is, if it be 
not a tyranny, which the men of our choice have conferred on the 
President, and the President of our choice has assented to and 
accepted, over the friendly strangers, to whom the mild spirit of our 
country and its laws had pledged hospitality and protection; that the 
men of our choice have more respected the bare suspicions of the 
President than the solid rights of innocence, the claims of justification, 
the sacred force of truth, and the forms and substance of law and 
justice. 

In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in 



KENTUCKY RESOLl im\ g 545 

man, but bind him down from mischief lis the chains of the Constitu- 
tion. That thi.s commonwealth does therefore call on it-- co-states foi 
an expression of their sentiments on the acts concerning aliens, and 
for the punishment of certain crimes herein before specified, plainly 

declaring whether these acts are or are not authorized by the federal 
compact. And it doubts not that their sense will be so announced as 
to prove their attachment to limited government, whether general or 
particular, and that the rights and liberties of their co-states will be 
exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked on a common bottom 
with their own; but they will concur with this commonwealth in con- 
sidering the said acts as so palpably againsl the Constitution as to 
amount to an undisguised declaration, that the compact is not meant 
to be the measure of the powers of the general government, but that it 
will proceed in the exercise over these states of all powers whatso- 
ever. That they will view this as seizing the rights of the states, and 
consolidating them in the hands of the general government, with a 
power assumed to bind the states, not merely in cases made federal, but 
in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their consent, but by 
others against their consent ; that this would be to surrender the form 
of government we have chosen, and live under one deriving its powers 
from its own will, and not from our authority ; and that the co-states, 
recurring to their natural rights not made federal, will concur in 
declaring these void and of no force, and will each unite with this 
commonwealth in requesting their repeal at the next session of 
Congress. 

EDMUND BULLOCK, S. If. R. 
JOHN CAMPBELL, S. S. P. T. 

Passed the House of Representatives, Nov. 10, 1798. 

Attest, THO'S TODD, C. II. R. 

In Senate, Nov. 13, 1798 — Unanimously concurred in. 

Attest', B. THURSTON, C. S. 

Approved, November 19, 179S. 

JAMES GARRARD, Governor of Kentucky. 

THE KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OE 1700, 

I In response to the Resolutions of the other States in reply to the 
Resolution of 1 79S. | By the Governor, Harry Toulmin, Secretary 
of St&te. 

Hoi se of Representatives, Thursday, Nov, 1 |. 1 

The house, according to the standing order of the day, resolved 
itself into a committee of the whole house, on the state of the com- 
monwealth, (Mr. Desha in the chair,) and, after some time spent 



646 DOCUMENTS. 

therein, the speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Desha reported that 
the committee had taken under consideration sundry resolutions passed 
by several state legislatures, on the subject of the Alien and Sedition 
Laws, and had come to a resolution thereupon, which he delivered in 
at the clerk's table, where it was read and vnanimously agreed to by 
he House as follows : — 

The representatives of the good people of this commonwealth, in 
General Assembly convened, having maturely considered the answers 
of sundry states in the Union to their resolutions, passed the last ses- 
sion, respecting certain unconstitutional laws of Congress, commonly 
called the Alien and Sedition Laws, would be faithless indeed to 
themselves, and to those they represent, were they silently to acquiesce 
in the principles and doctrines attempted to be maintained in all those 
answers, that of Virginia only accepted. To again enter the field of 
argument, and attempt more fully or forcibly to expose the unconstitu- 
tionality of those obnoxious laws, would, it is apprehended, be as 
unnecessary as unavailing. We cannot, however, but lament that, in the 
discussion of those interesting subjects by sundry of the legislatures of 
our sister states, unfounded suggestions and uncandid insinuations, 
derogatory to the true character and principles of this commonwealth, 
have been substituted in place of fair reasoning and sound argument. 
Our opinions of these alarming measures of the general government, 
together with our reasons for those opinions, were detailed with decency 
and with temper, and submitted to the discussion and judgment of our 
fellow-citizens throughout the Union. Whether the like decency and 
temper have been observed in the answers of most of those States who 
have denied or attempted to obviate the great truths contained in those 
resolutions, we have now only to submit to a candid world. Faithful 
to the true principles of the federal Union, unconscious of any designs to 
disturb tlic harmony of that Union, and anxious only to escape the fangs 
of despotism, the good people of this commonwealth are regardless of 
censure or calumniation. Lest, however, the silence of this common- 
wealth should be construed into an acquiescence in the doctrines and 
principles advanced, and attempted to be maintained by the said 
answers, or at least those of our fellow-citizens, throughout the Union, 
who so widely differ from us on those important subjects, should be 
deluded by the expectation that we shall be deterred from what we 
conceive our duty, or shrink from the principles contained in those 
resolutions, — therefore, 

Resolved, That this Commonwealth considers the Federal Union 
upon the terms and for the purposes specified in the late compact, 
conducive to the liberty and happiness of the several States : That 
it does now unequivocally declare its attachment to the Union, and to 



KENTUCKY UE80LUT10K - 647 

that compact, agreeably to its obvious and real intention, and will 
be among the last to seek it- dissolution : That, it those who admin- 
ister the general government be permitted to trangress the limits fixed 
by that compact, by a total disregard to the special delegation* of 
]iown therein contained, an annihilation of the State governments, 
and the creation, upon their ruins, of a general consolidated govern- 
ment, will he the inevitable consequence: That the principle and 
construction, contended for by sundry of the state legislatures, that 
the general government is the exclusive judge of the extent of the 
powers delegated to it, stop not short of despotism — since the discre- 
tion of those who administer the government, and not the Constitution, 
would be the measure of their powers: That the several States who 
formed that instrument, being sovereign and independent, have the 
unquestionable right to judge of the infraction; and, That a nullifica- 
tion, l<y those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under color of 
that instrument, is the rightful remedy : That this Commonwealth 
does, under the most deliberate reconsideration, declare, that the said 
Alien and Sedition Laws are, in their opinion, palpable violations of 
the said Constitution; and, however cheerfully it may be disposed to 
surrender its opinion to a majority of its sister States, in matters of 
ordinary or doubtful policy, yet, in momentous regulations like the 
present, which so vitally wound the best rights of the citizen, it would 
consider a silent acqiescence as highly criminal: That, although this 
Commonwealth, as a party to the Federal compact, will bow to the 
laws of the Union, yet it does, at the same time, declare, that it will 
not now, or ever hereafter, cease to oppose, in a constitutional manner, 
every attempt, at what quarter so ever offered, to violate that com- 
pact : And finally, in order that no pretext or arguments may be 
drawn from a supposed acquiescence, on the part of this Common- 
wealth, in the constitutionality of those laws, and be thereby used 
as precedents for similar future violations of the federal compact, this 
Commonwealth does now enter against them its solemn Protest, 

Extract, etc. Attest, TIK MAS T( >DD, C. H. R. 

In Senate, Nov. 22, 1799 — Read and concurred in. 

Attest, 13. THURSTON, C. S. 



INDEX. 



Abbott Academy founded, 590. Alton, slavery riots in, 462. 

Abenakis tlie, rise against the Whites, Amazon, valley of the, visited by Orel 



171, unite with the French, 173 
Aeadie, granted to de Monts, 100. rav- 
aged, 189. 



lano. 68 

Amendment, the Fifteenth, incorpor- 
ated into the Constitution, 558 



Adams, Abigail, on the cannonading at Amendment to the Constitution abol- 

ishing slavery, 533; needed to author- 
ize the Louisiana purchase, 381 ; to the 
Constitution, 353, 3">4. 552, 631; how 
made, 031; offered by the Hartford 
Convention, 413; suggested by Crit- 
tenden. 505. 
America characterized by Richard 
Price, 309: English sympathy for, in 
tin- Revolution, 310; for Americans, 
4i'7: roused, 258; too large for a repub- 
lican government, 348; taken posses- 
sion of for England, by Cabot, 29; 
■Webster's devotion to 17.".. 



Boston , 270 ; on the outlawing 
Adams and Hancock, 250. 

Adams, Herbert B., on the influence 
of Maryland in forming the Union, 
291. 

Adams, John, 593; advises stateliness 
in Presidential behavior 368; chosen 
President, 365; death of, 418; longs 
for "one leading mind," 304; onOtiis, 
227; on the Howes, 297. on the views 
about Independence, 218 

Adams, John Quinev, chosen Presi- 
dent, 427; at Qottenberg 414: on Fly- 
mouth Colony, 92; said to be the American Association formed, in 1774. 
author of the'.Monroe Doctrine, 418 : 24">: character, versatility of, 696; his- 
vindictive opposition to. 427. tory as looked at in the South, 543; 

\dams, Samuel, eloquence of, 232; fears history, I inning point in, 191 ; nation, 
the loss of Independence. 298; on the the, 620; system, the, 429. 
committer of correspondence. 241; Americans, all of us, 233; not to be in- 
presides at the Old South, 250; pride timidated, 251; sold as slaves, by 



of the South 548; urges all to study 
the art of war, 248; and Hancock 
at Lexington, 255, 250. 

Administration of Jefferson, the, 388. 

Adolphus, Gustavus, plans an Ameri- 
can colony, 129. 

Ad valorem' duties, 574. 

African Company, the, 200. 

African slavery, 190. 

African siaves first brought to America 
90. 

Agassiz, Louis, on the Antiquity of 
America, 43. 

Agitators. Webster on, 473. 

Agriculture, Schools of, 590 
Alabama admitted, 424. 
Alabama Claims, the, 558. 
\ laska, purchase of. 549. 



Cortereal, 32; the early, their origin, 
43; to he made to obey, 249. 

Ames, Fisher, 593; speaks in favor Of 
the Treaty with England, 362, 

Amnesty proclamation, of Johnson, the, 
540, 517, 

Amusements in early times. 150. 

Anderson, Major Robert, at Fort Sum- 
ter. 549; obliged to surrender Sumter, 
512. 

Andre. Major John. 320; captured and 
hung, 32 i. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, loo. [13; extent 
of jurisdiction of, 212: life of. 211; 
imprisoned, 215. 

Annapolis, Puritans at, 134; Washing- 
ton's farewell at. 335. 

Anne, Queen, obtains a monopoly of 



Albany, Convention at, in 1754, 223; the slave trade, 199 



Peace Conference, the, 506. 

Alexander, Sir William. 101. 

Algerian pirates, 382. 

Algiers, Dey of cowed, 415. 

Alien act, the, 371, 370. 379. 

Alien and Sedition Acts, protests 
against, 638, nil, <;_42, 044, 047: tem- 
porary nature of, :;,.">. 

Allen, Ethan, in Canada. 279; on t lie 
alert, 252; resists the- governor of New 
York, 338; takes Ticonderoga, 202. 



Anonymous plan for Union, 222. 

Antietam, battle of, 521. 

Antilla, island of. 8. 

Anti-Masons nominated for President 
and Vice-President, 4.-.:; 

Antipodes, disbelieved, 4, 11, 13. 

Anti-slavery publications and the 
mails, 402. 

Archaeology, the Museum of. at Cam- 
bridge, Mass., 56. 

Aristocracy, the, of Virginia, 202. 



IND1 \ 



«40 



Arizona, cliff-dwellings of, 48, 51; pur- Belcher, Governor, salary refused by 
chaaea, 477; visited by Coronado, n. Massachusetts, 226, 

Arkansas admitted, 460. Belknap, Jeremj , 

Armies, the French and American In Bell, Alexander <;., patents the tele- 
Philadelphia, 326; at Verplanck's phone, 
Point, 332. Bell, .John, nominated as President, 

Armstrong, Major John, writes an 491. 
anonymous address BellowB, Henry W., opposed to dis- 

Army disbandment of the Union, 646; uinon, 188 
Washington's farewell address to Berkeley, and Carteret, 131. 
335; the continental, poor condition Berlin and Milan decrees, 388, 
of, 271; of the Revolution, mutinous. Bible, the, Connecticut law, ill: 
333, Thomson's version of, 287; translated 

Arnold, Benedict, at Ticonderoga, 262; into the Indian tongue, by Bitot, 167. 
escape of, 321: burns Richmond, 326; Biddef ord and Saco, 103. 
not respected by the British after his Kiddle. Richard lite of Sebastian 
treason, 322; treason of, 320; tried by Cabot, 29. 

court martial. 316; unsuccessful in Billerica sends a protest to Gage, 246, 
the North, 299. Biloxi, colony established at, 124, 178. 

Arthur, President, takes the oath of Bimini, island of , 67. 
office, 572; signs the <i\il Service Black Friday, panic of , 606. 



Black Hawk's \v:ir, 44ti. 

Blackstone, the Rev. William, at Bos- 
ton, 106, 147. 
Bladensburgh, battle of, 407. 
Blennerhassett, Harman, romantic lite 

of, 384 
Blockade of British ports declared by 

Bonaparte, 386; of Southern ports 

614; effect of, on the South, 542. 
Bloodshedding, the first in the Revolu 

Hon, 250. 
Bloody Pond, the English entrapped 

Blue Laws, the so-called, of Connect! 
cut, 160. 

Bonaparte at the head of French affairs, 
■';7">, 386; promises to retract offensive 
measures, 396; Berlin and Milan de- 
crees of, 386 

Boone, Daniel, in Kentucky, 4i'i. 

Border Ruffians in Kansas ' 181. 

Boston evacuated by Howe. 277; tire in, 
its., 361; in I-:.'.' 559; founded, 106; 
impresses Europe, 232; makes a move 
to end Negro bondage, 200; mac 
239; port' closed. 241; Biege of, 259; 
slavery riots in, 162; the game of, 232. 

Bostonians refractory, 210. 

Bott8,J. M , on the baste of .,iv.. ,.i,. 
501. 

Boundary lines mentioned inearly char- 
ters indefinite, 140; the Northwest- 
ern, how marked. 443; the Oregon, 
4.M. 

Bowyer, fort, attacked by the British, 
109. 

banished fromlBraddock's expedition against the 
129; of Rhode Branch, 187, 188. 



Reform Bill, ."'7:; 

Aryan race, the, in America. 597. 

Vsiiimrton capitulations, the, 414. 

Asenisipia and other new States sug- 
gested by Jefferson, 340. 
o, treaty, I hi 
ince, w nts of, 227. 

Atahuallpa, Inca of Pern, 68. 

Atlanta, Sherman takes. .">.'!1. 

Atlantis, story of. 1. 

Austin, Anne, the Quakeress, 152. 

Austin, Stephen 1\. >eltles in Texas; 
411. 

\ustin, Moses, obtaiuB a grant ol Texan 

lands, 444 
Austrian Succession, War of the, i7.">. 

180. 
Authorship in early times, 162. 
Azala. Don Pedro de. letter to. 29. 
Bachelors frowned upon. 160. 
Bacon, Francis on Plantations, *;. 
Had Axe River, battle of. in. 
Bail, excessive, not to be required, 619, 

634 
Baker Col. E. l>.. killed. 516. 
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de. 35. 
Kails Bluff, battle ot, 515. 
Baltimore, early in. 

Baltimore, Lord, grantee ot Mary- 
land. 132. 

Baltimore, .Mass . soldiers in. 513. 

Kank, National. 356, 41.".: the United 
States, (42; opposed by Jackson, 137 

Banks, suspension of , 139; the pet, 138. 

Baptist, church, the first, 680. 

Baptists and Quakers not tolerated in 
Massachusetts, 151 
New Amsterdam. 
Island, Story on, Bradford academy, founded, 590. 

Barbarism, " twin relics " of. (84. Bradford, William. 95, 98, 99, 100. 

Barlow, Joel, Vla8sassoit,maki s a treaty with the imi 

Barattaria, pirates ot. 108. grims, 99. 

Barre, Isaac, replies to Townshend, 230. Bradford's History of Plymouth Col- 
Baxter, Richard, reprints Mather's ony 162. 
narrative about witchcraft, I5<',. Brandywine, battle ol the, 303. 

Bayard, J. A., at Gottenbnrg, 414. Brainerd, David, missionary t.i the 

Behaim, Martin, map of , Indian-, i-i 



(550 



INDEX. 



Brant, Joseph, chief of the £ix Na- 
tions, 3C7. 

Breck, Samuel, describes life in Phila- 
delphia, 308, on General Knox, 255. 
on Jefferson, 379; on modes of travel, 
388; on the burning of Washington, 
407; on the condition of affairs at the 
close of the Revolution, 337, 357; on 
the influence of Boston, 232. 

British ministry, the, 230. 

British progress in America slow, 304. 

Brooks, Preston, attacks Sumner, 488; 
threatens to march on Washington, 
482. 

Brougham, Lord, on strangling Amer- 
ican industries, 220, 573; on the Amer- 
icangovermnent, 347. 

Brown, John, at Harper's Ferry, 480; 
in Kansas, 480. 

Brown, John, of Pittsfleld,279. 

Brownists, Bacon's view of, 249. 

Brown University founded, 588. 

Bryant, William Cullen. 594. 

Buchanan, James, nominated as Presi- 
dent, 483; elected, 484; remedy for se- 
cession, 502. 

Buckner, General, surrender, 518. 

Bull Run, battle of, 514. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 205; troops start 
for, 264. 

Burden, Anne, the Quakeress, 153. 

Burgoyne, General, defeat of, 302. 

Burke, Edmund, rejoices at the resist- 
ance of America, 233; on the Ameri- 
can spirit of liberty, 248. 

Burke. Judge, denounces the Order of 
the Cincinnati, 333. 

Burns, Anthony, rendition of, 474. 

Burlingame, Anson, negotiates treaties 
552, 508. 

Burnside, General Ambrose Everett, 
sketch of, 521. 

Burr, Aaron, candidate for vice-presi- 
dent, 382; treason and trial, 384 
Theodosia, 384. 

Butler, Gen. B. F., at New Orleans, 519 

Butler, John, leads the attack on Wy 
oming, 307. 

Butler, Walter, leads the attack on 
Cherry Valley, 307. 

Cabeza de Vaca visits Zuiii, 41. 

Cabinet, resignation of the members of 
Tyler's, 442; Washington's, 355. 

Cabot, John, 29, 30, 90: Sebastian, 29, 
30; Sebastian, discovers America, 18 

Cabots, discoveries of, 212. 

Cahokia Mound, the, 50. 

Calef, Robert, publishes -More Won- 
ders of the Invisible World," 158. 

Calhoun, 398; acts on the principles 
of the Kentucky and Virginia resolu- 
tions, 435; chosen vice-president, 427; 
in Congress, 397; on internal improve- 
ments, 393; on the removal of the de- 
posits by Jackson, 438. 
California, antagonism to the Chinese 
in, 569; applies for admission, 409; dis- 
covery of gold in, 407 ; growth of pop- 



ulation in, 408, 409; occupied by Fre- 
mont, 459. 

Calvert, Leonard, takes a colony to 
Marylard, 133. 

Cambridge, Mass., favors Independ- 
ence, 284; Washington at. 209. 

Camden, battle of, 318. 

Canada, attempt to capture, 174; cam- 
paign against. 278, 279; campaign in, 
407; coquettes with Vermont, 338; 
offered the privilege of joining the 
Confederation, 017; plan for the in- 
vasion of, 184; preparations to invade, 
400; rebellion in, 448. 

Canal, the Delaware and Hudson 
opened, 418. 

Canals and roads, 393. 

Cannibalism not a practice of the In- 
dians, 48. 

Canonchet, a Naragansett chief, 168. 

Centennial exhibition, 503. 

Central Amer., ancient remains in, 63. 

Cape Cod named, 83. 

Capital, the, transferred to Washing- 
ton, 377. 

Carleton, Guy, in command at New 
York, 332. 

Carolina, first settlement in, 134; gran- 
tees of, 135; grant of, 134; origin of 
the name of, 77; Puritans in, 134. 

Caroline, fort, erected by Ribault, 77. 

Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, 244. 

Carteret and Berkley, Jersey granted 
to, 131. 

Cartier, Jacques, 41, 115, 117. 

Carver, John, 100; governor at Ply- 
mouth, 99. 

Cass, Lewis, gives its name to squatter 
sovereignty, 478. 

Catholic church, the, 580. 

Caucuses to nominate presidents, 433. 

Chaleurs, Bay of, 117. 

Chambersburg burned by General 
Early, 529; invaded by Lee, 522. 

Cham plain, Samuel de, 117; father of 
French settlements in Canada, 41, 
117, 118; battle of Lake, 408. 

Chancellorsville, battle of. 522. 

Charles I., case, of unfortunately used 
as a precedent, 537. 

Charleston, attacked by the British, 
280; besieged by Clinton, 317; burned 
ami evacuated by Hardee, 533; evacu- 
ated by the British, 332; Oglethorpe 
lands at, 141; college of, 589; Sons of 
Liberty at, 287; summoned to sur- 
render to the British, 311. 

Charlestown, the Massachusetts colony 
removed to, 106. 

Charter governments, the, 308. 

Charter Oak, the, 214. 

Chatham, Earl of, 189. 

Chattanooga, Rosecranz at, 524. 

Chauncey, Charles, 593. 

Cherubusco, battle of. 405. 

Chesapeake and Leopard, action be- 
tween, 387; convention for regulating 
commerce on, 339. 



/ \DEX. 



661 



Cherry Valley, mn— ■ore at, :m~. 

Chicago, Are i 

Chlckasaws, De Soto among the, 72; 
jrive trouble, 179. 

Chimneys, noi used La the seventeenth 
century, 1 16. 

China, efforts to reach II b) Bailing op 
American streams, 36, 88, 126; treaty 
with. 

( binese, antagonism to, 569; legation 
at Washington. 569. 

Chippewa, hut tie of, 407. 

Christ Church, Boston, Revere ssignals 
at, 294. 

Christianity, misdirected efforts to pro- 
mote, 99. 

Christmas not celebrated in [few Eng- 
land, 169. 

Church, Benjamin, treason of, 212. 

Church of England Iov.n1 by the Col- 
onists, 104. 111.,. 

Churches anil schools. 161. 

Cincinnati, Order of the, 333. 

Cincinnati, slavery riots in, 4412. 

• tipango, island of. i. 

Citizens, rights of, 036. 

city, tin- tirst American, l-'8. 

Civil Service, Changes in. 429; reform 
reform advocated by Garfield 

571 ; demanded 569. 

Civil war threatened, 347. 

Clarke. George Rogers, sent out by 
Virginia to the West. 398 

Cuff-dwellings of i lolorado 18. 

Clay. Henry, at Gottenberg, 41 I; candi- 
date for President, 4.'S.">; consistent 
supporter ot Compromise, 126; Inter- 
cedes for Mrs. Blennerhassel 386; 
his life. 397; opposed to the Introduc- 
tion of slavery to the territories, 172; 
presents a compromise to avoid seces- 
sion, 536; proposes a c promise 

47D; secretary of state, 4.'7; speaker 

of the House ;;:i7; ur^es President 

Madison to declare war. 398. 
Clayborne. William, in Maryland. 133. 
Clergy, the. in different colonies, 130. 
Clergyman, the first in Carolina 136. 

Clermont, the >\ 

Clinton, Sir llenrv. advances checked 
812; at New York, 297; attacks 

Charleston, 280; attacks Savannah 

311; cuts down a liberty-tree 287; in 
command of the British 305; salary 
refused by New York. 225; sent to 
America, 250 303; superseded 332; 
(Opposes the South subdued. 318, 

I caches lumbering and uncomfortable 
in England in Elizabeth's time, 146. 

Cochrane. Admiral ordered to destroy 
town-, I'D 

■_•-. a right of i oiciress, i;i.">. 624. 

Coahuila. proviiu f. l.V> 166 

Colignl Bends out a colony, 75. 

College founded at Quebec. 119. 

Colleges, dates of founding tin early 

ISter patriotism, 588, •">*'.'. 
Colonial boundary lines, 140. 



Colonies Turgot's remark regarding, 

217. 
Colonization, the era ul - 

i lolonists, objects of, Ihe, 601 
Colorado admitted, 564, 
Columbus Bartholomew. 26. 
Columbus Christopher 8; applies to 

Portugal, 10; death of, 23; honored 

is; marriage of. 9; motives ••! 15; 

vows to recover tin- holy sepulchre. 

22 
Columbia surrenders to Sherman, 533 
Columbia college founded, 587. 

Columbia Uiver discovered 151 

Commerce, \mcricaii interfered with, 
395: in colonial times, 159; the Chesa- 

tieake, commerce Oi 339; prostrated 
iv Jefferson's embargo, 387; revival 
of. us; the foreign oi Vmerl 

Commercial distress, in 1879 138, 570; 
panic in 1873. 501; of 1869, 555. 

Commission, the joint high on the 
presidential election of !-> 

Committee of Safety, the New York, 
296. 

Common land the Now England, 206. 

Compact, the Social, signed at Ply 
mouth. 92. 

Compensatine, duties appear, 574 

Compromise, spirit of, 346. 

Compromise tariff, the 574. 

Compromise, a, proposed by Clay, 470. 
the Missouri, 42, 417, 426; the ot 1850, 
171. 

Concord, battle of, 257; stores secreted 
at. '.'•").';. 

Confederacy, the Southern recogui 
tion of by foreign powers 199; cruis- 
ers, damage wrought by paid for by 
England, 558; action of Congress 
regarding, 546; formed, 114; policy 
of, 610. 

Confederation. Articles of, of New Eng- 
land, 601; Articles of, between the 
thirteen States, 288, mi; New Eng- 
land, fugitive slave law in. .'C>7; the 
New England. 112. 219. 

Conference, at Fortress Monroe, 5 34 

Congregationalists established in Amer 

! ica, 580. 

Congress, acts of. nullified by Johnson, 
547; and President Johnson, 546; 
composition of, 621; deterioration of. 
398; last session f t|,,. Continental. 
340; little int. -rest in. 349; makes a 
suggestion regarding Western Terri- 
tory, 290; meetings of, 623; migrations 
of, 300; ot 1774 the. 244; pay of mem- 
bers ot. 623; powers of, 613; represen 
tation in. 612; rights ot. 642; supre- 
macy of laws ,,f. 620, 621, 624; the 
Continental, called. 232; the flret 
American, rise of, 219; the first, IIS; 
threatened by the army. 333; weak 
ness of. :;:;7; the Panama, 129. 

Connecticut and Massachusetts invaded 

by Dut.h traders 
Connecticut claims Western territory. 



652 



INDEX. 



110; favors Independence, 284; gov-|Credit Mobilier scandal, the 554, 562. 
ernors of, 217; migration to, fromiCreek Indians, the give trouble in 
Massachusetts, 108; no persecuting Georgia, 4(13. 
spirit in, 148; resists Andros, 214 ; Crisis or 1837, 574; of 1873, 575. 
territory of, 108. Crittenden, .lohn -lay, makes efforts for 

Connecticut Reserve, 110, 291, 422. peace, 505. 

Conscience, Story on freedom of, 580. Crittenden's plan rejected, 507. 

Conscription bill, passed by Congress, Crockett, Davy, at the battle of Hovse- 
522. shoe Bend, 404; butchered at i' Alamo, 

Constitution, amendments to the, 552, 445. 
032; amendments to, proposed by thejCruisers, American, damage British 
Hartford Convention, 413; a National,: shipping, 313. 
proposed by Hamilton, 338; compared Cumberland road, the, 428. 
with the Articles of Confederation, Currency, Confederate, depreciation of 
344; debates on, 342, 347, discussion; 534; confusion in, at the close of the 
of, 353; ratification of, 349; signed, Revolution, 337; depreciation of the 
348; Webster on, 432; right to judge Continental, 316. 
infractions of, 640, the, of Connecti- Curwen, Samuel, leaves America, 260; 
cut, the first example of its kind, Journal quoted, 205; on the news of 
111; Virginia claimed to have framed! American success, 330; on sympathy 
the first adopted by an independent! with America, 310; on the hopeless- 
political society 284 ness of the Revolution, 297; on Ameri- 

Constitution, the Frigate, 400. i can Independence. 302. 

Constitutional Convention, object of jCuster, General, murdered, 563. 



calling, 343 

Construction, strict, doctrine of, 381. 

Continental Congress, the second, 203. 

Contracts not to be impaired, 626. 

Convention, the Hartford, 410 413; the 
National Constitutional, 339, 343. 

Convicts brought to America, 89. 

Conway cabal, the, 304. 

Cooke, Jay, & Co., failure of, 561. 

Cooper, James Fenimore, 594. 

Cooper, Peter, constructs a locomotive, 
584. 

Copyright and patents, 625. 

Corey, Giles, pressed to death, 157. 

Cornwallis, attacks Charleston, 280; 
checked, 320; confident of success, 
327; left to carry war into North Car- 
olina and Virginia, 318; news of his 
surrender in England, 330; retreats 
from the South. 324; severe measures 
in the South, 319; surprised at Prince- 
ton, 300; surrender of, 327. 

Coronado, Francisco Vasquez, visits 
Colorado and Arizona, and discovers 
the pueblo of Zuiri, 41 



Ohi. 



541; 



Customs duties, cause for, 573. 

Cutler, Manasseh, agent of the 
company, 341. 

Cnzeo, remains at, 04. 

Dana Richard Henry, 594. 

Dartmouth College founded, 58s. 

Davidson Academy, 589. 

Davis, Jefferson, capture of, 
chosen President of the Confederacy! 
494; flight of, 540, hallucinations of, 
499; leaves church at Richmond, 537: 
on carrying war into the North, 514; 
on invading the North, 510; opposed 
by the Confederates, 534; sends out 
engineers to explore the Western ter- 
ritories, 477, 478 ; sketch of. 494. 

Davis, Jefferson ('-. bravery of, 533; 
overcomes the Modocs, 561." 

Davis, John, on Jefferson's inaugura- 
tion, 378. 

Dawes, William, accompanies Revere, 
254. 

Dawson, Henry P.. New York during 
the American Revolution. 232; on the 
first bloodshedding 239. 



Correspondence, committee of, 232, 241. Deane, .Charles, 29; points out the in- 
Corruption charged upon Clay and consistency of the story of Pocahon- 



Adams, 427, 
Cortereal, Gaspar, sent to explore 

America, 32, 90; carries away Indians 

164. 
Cortes, Hernando, 35. 
Cotton industry not dependent on pro- 



tas, 88: quoted, 100. 

Deane, Silas, sent to Paris, 298. 

Debt, the National, payment of, advo- 
cated by Garfield. 571; validity of the 
National asserted, 548, 637: the United 
states, paid off, 438. 



Decatur, Stephen, exploit of, 382; in the 
Mediterranean, 41S 



tection, 574. 

Cotton mill, the first, 582. 

Cotton, Rev. John, of Boston, 109; 
influences Davenport. 111. 

Cow-boys, the, 321. 

Cowpens, Hannah's, battle at, 324. 

Coxe. Daniel, plan for Union, 220. 

Craig, Sir James, plots against .Amer- 
ica, 394. 

Creasy, Sir Edmund, on the battle of.lDe la Ware, Lo'rd L 
Saratoga, 302. Delaware bay explored, 126 



Declaration of Independence, 607. 

Declaration of Rights, of the Conti- 
nental Congress, 233, 245: by Vir- 
ginia. 233. 618. 

Deerfield Mass., and other towns burned. 
169. 

Deerfield ravaged, 174. 



INDEX. 



r,r,3 



Delaware, the lint State to ratif\ the|Education,endownment of in Colorado 
Constitution, 348 "><;4; public, advocated by Garfield] 

Democratic part] overthrow of, in 571. 
1840, 441 Edwards, Jonathan, as a metaphysician, 

Dennie, Joseph, 583. 593; cares for the Indians, 184. 

Deposit, right of , at New Orelesuia re- El Dorado sought i>\ Orellano, 68 
fused, 380 Electors, presidential, i 

Deposits removed by Jackson, 137. Eliot, John, labors among the Indiana 

De Soto, Fernando, 67, 1 - 166. 

Despatch, famous ol Perry, 103 hllis, George B.,on Massachusetts hi 

Dickinson John, his life, 246; Farmer's tolerance, 151; on the Plymouth Pll- 
Letters, 349 grims, 92. 

Dickinson College, Emancipati Lincoln on, 516; procla- 

Dieskau entraps the English at Bloody mation, the, 521, 545. 
Pond, 188. Embargo act opposed by New England, 

Digbton writing-rock, 25. 388; repeal of, 395. 

Directory, the French, 370, 371. Embargo, the great. 387; the, stimulate* 

Disasters in 1779,312. industry, 573. 

Dissatisfaction with the Mother-coon- Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 594; on Love- 
try, i*l. joy's heroism, 166; quoted, 267. 

I >j->< .luti the Coustit utional conven- Emigrant aid societies send settlers to 

Hon on the verge of, 345; Kentucky Kansas, 481. 

opposed i". 647. Bndicott, John, grant made to. 103. 

Distress ot Washington's army, 315. England, boundary treaty with, 4.">4: 

Disunion, convention at Worcester, chum to the Ohio region, 186; claims 
Mass., 184; feared, 289; sentiments, against, hi consequence oi her viola- 
386,399,426: spirit of , at the close of ti<m of neutrality, 658; desires to 
the Revolution, 337; threats "f. 469 strengthen her hold on the col 

Douelson, Fort, surrender of, M7 113; efforts to sustain the slave trade. 

Dorchester Heights occupied by Wash- 201; endeavors to detach the South 



ington, 276 

l >di r' - rebellion, 160. 

Douglas, Stephen Ann. id, introduces 
the Kansas-Nebraska bill, 478; sketch 
of, 508; inated as President, 492. 

Dover and Portsmouth, settlements at, 
101 

Dover attacked by Indians, 175 

Draft rinN in New York, 523. 

Dial ts for the army, in 1863, 522. 

Drake, Sir Francis, Bl ■ 86. 

Dred Scott decision, 485, 

Duane, William J., secretary of the 
Treasury, 138. 

Duchi, Rev. Jacob, opens the sessions 
of Congress with praver, 244; be- 
comes a Tory 272. 

Ducking-chair, the, 

Dunmore governor, confiscates a press, 

Dunster, President, Interested in Eliot's 

work 167 
Dutch Church established 
Dutch, the, claim Connecticut, ins: ef- 
forts at colonization, 125; governors 

list of the, 131. 
Dwight, Timothy, 693. 
Dyer, Mary, hung as a Quaker, 153. 
Early, General Jubal, Invades Mary 

land, an<l threatens Washington 

529. 
Earth, Bize and form of, 2, 
Earthworks erected in Boston, by 

Gage, -'4l'. 

i interests keep \ ermont out of 

tin' I talon 121. 



west, 108; growing hostility towards, 
395; bears of the surrender of Com 
wailis. 330; interferes with American 
commerce, 385; loved by Americans, 
194; misled regarding the permanence 
of the colonial union, 249: misled re 
gardingthe Brownists, 249; supports 
the Tories. 260; treaty with, 131; 
trouble with, in 1852, 477. 

Episcopalians established in America, 
580. 

Eratosthenes believes the earth to !>•■ 

round, 2. 
Erie < 'anal opened, lis. 
Ericsson, iuvents the screw propeller, 

584. 
Estaillg, Count d', 
Eutaw Springs, battle at, 326. 
European affairs, influence American 

politics, 370. 
Everett, Edward, draws out Madison's 

view*. 376; on the drum that beat al 

Louisburg, 268; nominated as Vice 

President, 491. 
Evangeline, scene ot the story of, 189. 
Exeter, ravaged by Indians, 170. 
Expunging resoiutioi 
Fabius, letter- of, 349. 
Fair Oaks, battle of, yi»._ 
Falmouth, burning of, 272. .114. 
Faneuil Hall, meeting in, 236. 
Farewell address ol w ftsbington, 865. 
Farragut ( ' modore, al Mobili 

opens the Mississippi, 519. 
Fashion in Philadelphia, 
Fashions, law? regarding, 168. 



Eaton, Theophilns founds New Haven, Fast, appointed i>\ 1 longrese 
110. Fast Day appointed in Mass., 246. 



654 



INDEX. 



Federal and National plans for the gov 
eminent 343. i 

Federal Government, powers of, . - 
creased by amendments to the con- 
stitution. 353. fi„„Hi 

Federal property seized by the South, 

507. 
Federalist, the, 349. 

Federalists and Re l ,ub ' lca I ns V?i'.; 1 .,„ 

Federalists convene, at Hartford, 410, 

413; oppose admission of Orleans. 3.>t>. 

Ferdinand and Isabella aid Columbus, 

Field! Cyrus W., and the ocean tele- 
graph, 548. 

Fifty-four forty, or tight, 4o4. 
Fillmore, Millard, becomes President, 
475; alienates his party, ,519. 

Financial legislation 440; panic, of 
1873 561 

Finances, management of, by Hamil- 
ton, 351. ,, . , ... 

Fire-bell, in the night, the, of Jettei- 
son. 425. . .... 

Fire-Eaters receive their name, 470. 

Fiscal measures, the greatest of Amer- 
ica, 574. _ 

Five Forks, battles at. oat. 

Five Nations becomes Six, 177; make 
a treaty with the English, 173. 

Fisher, Mary, the Quakeress, 152 

Flag, the first American, 314. 

Flax, raising of, encouraged, 232. 

Florida admitted, 450; bought 448, 
cetled to the United States, 418; In- 
dian War in. 447; occupied by the 
British. 408; visited by De Soto, . 1. 

Floyd, John, candidate for president, 

Food in Colonial times, lo9. 
Foote. Samuel A., introduces a resolu- 
tion about land sales, 432. 
Forks, luxuries in colonial days 14b. 
Fort du Quesne, 180; taken by Wash- 
ington, 100, 
Fort Pillow, 532. 

Fort Pitt, formerly du Quesne, 19. 
Fort Ticonderoga, British defeat at, 

190. 
Fort William Henry built, 188. 
Fortress Monroe, conference at, 534. 
Forts in the West surrendered by Eng- 
land, 302. 
Fortune the ship, brings news to Ply 

mouth 99. 
Foster. J. W., 60. 
Fox, George, in Carolina, 136. 
France, a mission to, 298. 
France and England struggle for su- 
premacy in America, 172. 
France, einbarassnient from, 370; her 
hold on the Southwest, 178; makes 
open alliance with America, 303 
secret aid from, 301: sympathy with. 
358; takes possession of the Ohio 
region, 180; withdraws objectionable 
decrees; 398. 
Franklin, battle of, 532, 



Franklin. Benjamin, 221; aids Brad- 
dock 187; as a literary man, 593; in- 
troduces Lord Grenville at Versailles, 
I 331; iov at the surrender of Corn- 
I wallis, 330; leaves London, 252; plan 
for union, in 1775. 203; plan for 
a Union 220, 223; Post-Master Gen- 
eral 348; ridicules the expedition to 
Louisburg, 183; sent to Paris, 298; 
Turgot's 'motto for 217. 
Franklin stove, the, 221. 
Franklin, State of, 338. 
Fraunce's tavern, New York, 335. 
Fredericksburg, battle of, 521. 
Freedmen, political rights of. 540. 
Freedom, religious, 580, 633; the spirit 

of, 580. 
Free-soil party, 470; formed 46.. 
Fremont, J. C, explorations of, 478; 
nominated as President, 483; occupies 
California, 459. 
Free Trade and Sailors' rights, a war 

cry, 399. 
French aid in the Revolution. 328; 
efforts at colonization, 115; make a 
descent on New England 183; means 
of influencing the Indians, 115; names 
on the map of America. 116; resign 
claims to American territory. 115; 
revolution. 358; sympathy with, 361. 
Freneau, Philip, 315 593. 
Friends, meeting of in Philadelphia, 

14 °- • „„ 

iFrobisher. Sir Martin, 80. 
Frothingham's " Rise of the American 
I Republic," 250, 284. 
iFryehurg, fight at, 170. 
Fugitive slave clause in the Ordinance 
I of 1787. 204. 

Fugitive slave law of 1850, 474. 
Fugitive slave laws. 357. 
Fugitive slave, reward for a, 190. 
Fugitives, stipulations regarding, in the 
Articles of the New England Con- 
federation, 605. 
Fugitive slaves, articles regarding the 

return of 34c. i;::o 
Fugitives from service, 630. 
Fulton, Robert, makes the first prac- 
tical steamboat. 388, 584. 
Funds, surplus distributed by the 

United States to the States, 438. 
Gadsden, Christopher, 233, 287. 
Gadsden Purchase, the, 477. 
Gage, general Thomas, enters Boston. 
j 242; superseded by Howe, 250; sup- 
plies captured, 275. 
Gallatin, Albert, at Gottenburg. 414: 
plans of for internal improvements. 
428; scheme for internal improve- 
ments, 393. . 
Garfield, .lames. A., assassination of, 
571: chosen President, 570, funeral 
of, ":>72; in Eastern Kentucky. 517: 
on slavery, 201. 
Garrison, William Lloyd, career Of 

462. 
kiaspee, affair of the. 239, 



INDEX. 



665 



-f th« 



Gates, General, in the Sontb, 318, 319;i Grants, indefinite boundaries 

receive! the surrender of Burgoyne, Colonial, 288. 

302. Grasse-Tilley, Counl de, 327, 329. 

Gay, 8. ll on the landing of the Pil-| Gray, Captain Robert, 464. 

grime, 98. Graydon, Alexander, 

General warrants, 229; oppressive,!Greal Eastern, the, lays the ocean 

619.1 cable, 549 

Genet, citizen, 361. Greeley, Eorace, nominated as Presi- 

Gentlemen, the Southern. 207. dent, 560; on the Compromise ol 

George HI., annonnces American sue- I860. 474; sketch of, 560. 
831; fatuity of, 298: Ins long] Green back party, the, 664. 

reign, 229; reluctant to acknowledge Greene, General Nathaniel, drives Hip 

American Independence, 330. British Cram the South, 325; greets 

Georgia cedes territory t<> the I nited Washington at Cambridge, 269; sent 

States, 124; grant of, 141; Indian to oppose Cornwallis 319. 

War in, 103; opposed to Blavery, Grievances lead t<> desire for Inde 

199; Seminole war in, 447. pendence 21*. 

Gerard de Rayueval, Joseph Matthias, Grigsby, Hugh Blair, on the Virginia 

first .Minister from l'nunv to Amer- Convention. 284. 

lea, 806. Groton Hill, Fori at, taken by Arnold, 

Germans in Pennsylvania, 139. 326. 

German Reformed Church, the, 581. Guercherville, Madame, 101, 
i tormantown, attack on, 303. Guilford Court House, battle at, 824. 

Habeas Corpus, bill of, 625. 



Gertrude of Wyoming, 307. 
Gerry, Klbridge ol Mass 

Civil War, 347. 
Gettysburg, battle of, 522, .vj.;. 
Gilbert, Bfi Humphrey, • 
Gilman, Daniel C. 117. 427. 428 
Gilman, Joseph, of N. H.. :;i; 



binls at 



i Hakluyt, sir Richard, 84, 86. 
Hale, John P., nominated as President, 

476. 
Hale, Nathan, executed, 321. 
Hale, Col. Robert, " seats the meeting- 
house." 202. 
Oilman, Nicholas, of the Constitutional Halifax, Karl, plan for union of. 254. 

Convention, 346, 347. Hamilton, Alexander, ~>i»3; advises that 

Gin. the cotton, 582 ! the President be open to the approach 

Gladstone on the Constitution. 350. of certain persons, 368; killed by 

class not commonl] used in earl] Burr, 383; management of Public 
Colonial times, 146. Finances, 3.">t: plan for the govern- 

<Jlobe, size of the. 2. raent, 342; proposes a National Con- 

Gloucester, men of, repulse the Falcon, Btitution, 338, 339; Secretary of the 

318. Treasury. 366. 

GnadenhUtten, mission at, 186 Hamilton and Jefferson, antagonism 

God, denial of the existence of, debars) between. 

from office 681. Hampden-Sidney College founded. 588. 

Goffe. William, alleged appearance at Hancock, John, refuses to call on 

llailley. 169. Washington, 366; president of the 

Gold discovered in California 167; Provincial Congress, 246; suggests a 

payments, resumption of, 576; specu- Congress, 241. 



Hancock, Winfleld Scott, nominated as 

President, 570; sketch of, 570. 
Hard cider campaign, the, 412. 
Hardee, General, escapes from Savan- 
nah. 
Hardin. Colonel, circumvents the In- 
dians, 368. 
Harper's Ferry, Brown's attack on, 

186. 
Harrison, General W. ll., defeat.- the 
British, 103; elected President, 441 ; 
death of. 4 12. 
Hartford Convention, the, 410, 113. 
Grand Khan, efforts to visit, 9, 15 125.1 Hartford, settled, first called New- 
Grant, U. B., at Chattanooga 525; town), 109. 
chosen President, 553; efforts to noui- Harvard College founded, 161,687; re- 
mate for a third term. 570; nominated \ ed to « I :ord, 269. 

as President, 562; made Lieutenant- Haverhill burned, 171. 
General; 528; renominated, 560, takes Hawthorne, Nathaniel. 594. 
Vicksbnrg, 523. Hayes, R. B.. conciliatory policy of, 

Grant, Uw nrst made by the Plymouth 566; declared President 566; «k«»toh 
Companj . 99. of, 1 



lation in, 555. 

( toed feeling, era of, 417. 

Gorges, sir Ferdinando, 101. 

Gorges, William, 103. 

1 lonrgues, I tominic de, 79, 1 16. 

Gosnold, P. ., 83, 90, 100. 

Co-pel. it- connection with the Pil- 
grim Colonists, 668, 

Gottenberg, convention at, 414. 

Government, the, ol America, 698. 
Governments, the early. 208. 
Governors, Washington's address 
384. 



to. 



656 



INDEX. 



Hayne, Isaac, execution of, 325. 

Hayne, Paul Hamilton, 595. 

Hayne. Robert Y.. debates with Web- 
ster, 43:2. 

Hazard, Ebenezer, 357 

Hendrick, the Mohawk Chief, killed. 
188. 

Henry, John, a scheming adventurer, 
394. 



Impeachment. 622, 629; of Johnson, 547. 
importation discouraged, 233. 
Impressment of seamen, 385, 444; 

stopped, 414. 
Improvements, internal, 428. 
Inauguration, the first in Washington, 

378 
Income Tax, the, 575. 
Independence, birth of, in Boston, 228. 



Henry, Patrick, denies that freedom Independence, Declaration of, 607. 
is consistent with taxation without! Independence, Declaration of, drawn 



representation. 231; trustee of Hamp 
den-Sidney College, 589. 

Herkimer, General, success of, 302 

Hessians surprised at Trenton, 299. 

Higginson, Rev. Francis, 104. 

Hickey's " Constitution," 342. 

Hinckley, Thomas, 100. 

History, the turning point in Ameri- 
can, J 91. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 594. 

Home life, 144 

Homespun clothes worn, 235. 

Homespun preparing to dress in, '_'32. 

Hood, General, driven from Atlanta, 
531; driven from Tennessee, 532. 

Hooker, General commands at Chan 
cellorsville, 522. 

Hooker, Rev. Thomas, goes to Connec 
ticut, 108. 

Hopkins. Samuel, 593. 

Hopkinson. Joseph, 593. 

Hornet's nest, of North Carolina, the, 
319. 

Horseshoe Bend battle at, 404. 

Hospitals fur the sick and insane. 160. 

Houston, Sam, at the battle of Horse- 
shoe Bend, 404; president of Texas, 
445; takes Colonists to Texas, 445 

Howe, Sir Richard, in command of 
British Naval forces in America, 250 
burns Falmouth. 272. 

Howe, General Robert, protects Savan- 
nah, 311; diseomfitted by Washing- 
ton, 277. 

Howe, Sir William, relieves Gage, 250; 
303; endeavors to treat with Con- 
gress, 298; expects a brief war, 30, 300 

Howe'ls, William Dean, 595; on Gnad- 
enhutten, 185. 

Howes, detestation of the, 297; at New 
York, 297. 

Hubbard, William, historian, 169. 

Huguenots in Carolina, 136; sent from 
France to America, 75. 

Hull, Captain Isaac, captures the Guer- 
riere, 400. 

Hull, General, disastrous campaign of 
400. 

Huron Indians, 118. 

Hutchinson, Anne, 148; banished from 
Massachusetts, 107. 

Hutchinson, Governor Thomas, 107; 
forced to remove troops from Boston, 
239. 

Iberville. Lemoine d', 124. 

Illinois admitted, 424. 

Illinois, County of, 308. 



up, 237; read before the Army, 295: 
first delaration of, 283. 
Independence, germs of, 114, 210; 
growth of the spirit of, 225, 248; 
movement towards, 217, 284; not the 
desire of any before 1775, 218, 253: 
semi-centennial celebration of, 418: 
voted by Congress, 285, 287. 
Independent treasury system, the, 440. 
Indian reservations, 389; Territory, 
esablished, 418; policy of Grant, 560; 
ravages, 172, 174; traits, 53; tribes, 
the, 47; war, in 1790, 358; war of 1876, 
563; wars, in 1830,-35, 446; benefitted 
by the whites 163; delude De Soto. 
72; encountered at Plymouth, 95; 
friendly relation with, 98; how in- 
fluenced by the French. 115; Jef- 
ferson's treatment of. 389; messa- 
cred, 561; New York tries to keep 
them from taking part in the Revolu- 
tion, 256; Oglethorpe's dealings with, 
141; Penn's treatment of, 139; ravage 
Maine. 170; relations ot the whites 
with, 163; rise of the, in the North- 
west, 192; the, terrified by the whites, 
110; their decrease before the Euro- 
peans came to America, 55; to be reg- 
ulated by Congress, 615 ; trouble from, 
in the Southwest, 179; wars among, 
118; Washington wishes to elevate. 
358. 
Indiana, admitted, 423. 
Industries, Brougham on strangling, 

573. 
International improvements, 392, 393; 

in Monroe's time, 428. 
Intolerance in Massachusetts, 151. 
Invention, progress in, 582. 
Iowa, admitted. 450. 
Ireland contributes to the distress of 

Plymouth, 170. 
Iron, industry protected, 574. 
Irving, Washington, 594; on old New 

York, 209. 
Irving's New York, 162. 
Jackson, Andrew, at New Orleans, 409; 
censured by Congress, 438, discharges 
office-holders, 430; executes British 
prisoners, 448; nominated for Presi- 
dent, 428; in the Creek war, 404; on 
the circulation of anti-slavery publi- 
cations, 462; opposes nullification 
436; proposes a modification in the 
tariff, 431; reelection of, 432; takes 
Pensacola, 409, 
Jackson, T. J., death of, 552. 



/ Xhl.J. 



657 



James, Henry, 696. Kentnck] and Virginia reaola 

Japan, opened by Perry,477. declarator] only, 376. 

Jamestown, founded, 87; saved from Kin- George's war, 175, 180. 
massacre, 166. King William's War. 172. 

Jay, John, 693; effects a treaty witb King's Mountain, battle of, 320. 
England, 362, 370. Knobel, Caspar, account ol capture "f 

Jealousies, colonial, 112,219. Davis by, 641. 

Jealousy, among the States, 421. Knowledge essential to g i govern- 

Jefferson, Thomas, 693; chosen Pred- ment, 681. 
dent, 376; chosen Vice-President, 366; Knownothing party, i v ■. 
death of, 41*: draws up the Declara- Knox. General Henry, 335; brings cau- 
tion of Independence, 287; draws up aon to Cambridge, 271: draws up the 

the Kentucky resolutions, 372; ignores plan for the organizati if theCin- 

a treaty with England, in 180U, 385; cinnati, 333; Secretary of War, 355. 

on ti «r 1 1 r i n ti and voting, 522; on slav- Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 306. 

ery discussion, 125; opposes the Blave Ku klux Klan, the, 658. 

trade, 201 : presents a plan for organiz- L' Alamo, massacre of, 146. 

bug the Northwestern Territory, 340; Laborers unemployed in is:;;, 44i>. 

proposes exclusion of slavery from Laconia named 101. 

Ohio country, 357; Sec. of State, 366. Lactantius refuted, t. 

Jefferson and Hamilton, antagonism Lafayette arrives, ::(U, at Yorktown, 



between, 366. 

J< Berscr e embargo, 8 V iffiual life 
379: part] opposes nullification, 413. 
policy regarding Internal Improve 
mentis. 128. 

Jersey, origin of the name, 132. 

Jerseys, the, grants of, 131 ; sett tementa 
in, 132. 

Jesuits, feeling against, 17" 

Johnson, Andrew, alienated from the 
Repuhliean party, 549; becomes Pres- 
ident. ">tn ; impeachment of, ">17: mili- 
tary Governor of Tennessee, 546; and 
i Songress, 646. 

Johnson family, the, of central New 
York. 279. 

Johnson, Samuel, of Columbia College, 
593; 

Johnson, Dr. Sam., opposed to Amer- 
ica, 252. 

Johnson, Sir Win., allied to Brant, 307. 

Johnston, Joseph r... at Atlanta. 628; 
surrenders to Sherman, 534,640, 

Jolliet, Louis, explores the Mississippi 
Valley, 120, 185. 

Jones, Paul, exploits (if. 316; hoists the 
tir>t \ merican Qag, :;i i. 

Journalism, progress of, 693. 

Judicial, power of the Federal Govern- 
ment. 629. 

ludicial power of the United Stetes,635. 

Judiciary, distinct from the Executive 
and Legislative, 186, 619. 

Jury trial guaranteed, I 

Jury trial, right of, 620,634. 

Kali), John 306; monument to, 31*: 
Bnl to the South. 318 



Kalm. Peter, prophesies independence 

in ITls, 225. 

- admitted, 486, migration of Ne- 

gi a to "» ; i; settled, »l. 

Nebraska biU, 178. 
Kearney. Philip W., in Mexico. 1 68 
Keitt, Lawrence m.. on secession, 193. 
Kentucky, County of, 308 
Kentucky enters the Inion. 121, 122; 
Resolutions, 372, 133, 640, 646. I 



327; helps Boston, 361; visits America 

(he second time, lis. 
Lake George, battle at, 188. 
Lamb, agreement to eat none, 
Lands divider! among the settlers at 

Plymouth, 100; trouble 1 from sale ,,f 

public, 432. 
Langdon, John, receives Washington, 

La Salle, Robert, death of , 124; sails 
for America, 121. 

Laud) iere, visits Florida. 77. 

Lava beds, fighting in, 561, 

Law, American, established by Mar- 
shall, 389. 

Law, John, interested in Louisiana. 
178. 

Lawrence, \nios A., Treasurer of the 
Emigrant Aid Society. 181. 

Lawrence, Kansas, settled, 481; Backed, 
482. 

Leather lark of in the South, 542. 

Le bon nomine Richard, 316. 

LeCOmpton convention, 486. 

Lee, Arthur, sent to Prance, 298. 

Lee, General Charles, accompanies 
Washington from Philadelphia, 267; 
a Boldier of fortune. 272; maligns 
Washington, 299; tried by court 
martial, 3<)."i. 

I .Major Henry, takes Paulas Hook, 

312. 

Lee, Richard Henry, on the character 
of Washington, 376; opposes the 
slave trade, 228; speaks for indepen- 
dence 286. 

Lee, Robert E., captures fort Steed 



man, 537; determines to invade the 
North, 522; enters Antietam Valley, 
honorable treatmenl of. by 
Grant, 663; pride of the South in, 
surrender oi 
Leigh, Benjamin W., 4.:7. 
Leisler, Jacob, revolts. 211. 
Length of the Revolutionary War, 
opinions regardiiu 

luan l'onee de, 35. 



658 



INDEX. 



Levees of Washington, 366. (Lutherans, the, appear in N. Y., 580. 

Levett, Christopher, explores the coast Luxury in England and America, 145 



of Maine. 102. 

Lewis and Clarke, explorations of, 389, 
454. 

Lexington, battle of, 256; headquarters 
of Hancock and Adams at, 254. 

Liberator, the 462. 

Liberty of conscience and the press, 
639 

Liberty tree, the, of Boston, 234. 

Lieutenant-General, grade of, 528. 

Lincoln, Abraham, assassination of, 
539; character of, 509; consults Grant 
and Sherman, 534; election not the 
cause of secession, 494,497; nominated 
491; on the case of Charles I., 537; 
re-elected, 533; sketch of 508; Spot 
Resolutions, 456; volunteers in the 
Black Hawk war, 446. 

Lincoln Benjamin, attempts to retake 
Savannah, 312; sent to the South, 
311; superseded by Gates. ::is. 

Literature, epochs of American. 590; 
progress of, 587; slow progress of, 594. 

Living, style of, in England in the 
time of Elizabeth. 144. 

Livingstone, Edward, on the Louisana 
purchase, 380. 

Livingston, Robert, opposes the Stamp 
Tax, 232. 

Livingston, William, asserts that an 
thority should be derived from the 
people, 229. 

Local self-government in New Eng- 
land, 206, 247. 

Locke, John, makes a plan for the gov 
eminent of Carolina. 135. 

Locof ocos so named . 43 , . 

Locomotive, the first American, 584. 

Log cabin campaign, the, 440, 441. 

London Company, the, 85. 114; patent 
cancelled, 114. 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 594; 
home, the headquarters of Washing- 
ton. 269; New England Tragedies 
quoted, 157. 

Long Island, operations on, 298. 

Lookout Mountain battle of, 525. 

Lopez, execution of, 4' 



Luzerne, the French minister, 326. 

Lynn settled, 106. 

Lyon, General, chastises the Modocs, 
561. 

Macaulay's attack on Penn, 141. 

MacDonough, Commodore, at Lake 
Chatnplain, 408. 

Machias, a prize taken.at, 314. 

MacClellan, George B., sketch of, 515. 

McComb, General, meets the British, 
408. 

Mackinaw, treacherous capture of, 192. 

McLane, Louis, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, 43s. 

Madison, -lames, 589, 593; chosen Presi- 
dent. 394; on State and Federal power, 
344; on the growth of Independence, 
218: on the social condition of Vir- 
ginia, 206; opposed to nullification, 
372; retirement of, 416. 

Magalhaens, Fernando, 36. 

Magellan, Strait of, 36. 

Mahew, Thomas, labors among the In- 
dians, 167. 

Mails, anti-slavery publications in the, 
462; infrequency of, 348. 

.Maine admitted, 424; named, 102; rav- 
aged by Indians, 170; settlement in, 
91. 

Mallery, Colonel Garrick, on the early 
Americans, 50. 

Malvern Hill, battle of, 520. 

Manassas, battle of. 514. 

Madamus councillors appointed, 242, 

Mandeville, Sir John, on the shape of 
the earth, 3. 

Manhood, as between the North and 
the South, 515. 

Manhattan Island, houses erected on, 
127. 

Manufactures, American, England jeal- 
ous of, 226; restrained by England, 
159; prosperity of, 418. 

Manufacturing stimulated by the em- 
bargo, 573, 

Marbois, M., sells Louisana for France, 
381. 

Marcv, Governor, of New York, saying 



Lost Tribes, supposed progenitors of! of, 429 

the Indians, 44, 166. Marietta, settlement of, 341. 

Louisburg, effect of. on the Revolu- 
tion, 258; restored to France, 184; 

taking of, 183; attacked the second 

time, 190; recollection of, stimulates 

patriotism, 242. 
Louisana admitted. 423: granted to 

Antoine Crozat, 179; purchase, 379, 

381, 454; settlement begun in, 124; ter 



Marmot, the cook, 369. 

Marion. Francis, the South Carolina 
patriot, 318. 

Marquette, Jacques, the Jesuit mis- 
sionary, 120, 121, 185. 

Marshall, John, 389, 593. 

Martin, Luther opposed to the consti- 
tution 347 



ritory of, 422; troops removed from. Martyrs in the cause of discovery, 73, 
by Hayes, 566. I 124, 126. 

Lovejoy, Rev. E. I'., murder of, 462. |Maryland discountenances the slave 



Lovewell's war, 176. 

Lowell, James Russell, 594: on Wash- 
ington, 296. 

Lowell's New England two Centuries 
ago, 162. 



trade, 200; entered by General Lee, 
520; makes an important objection, 
288; ratines the articles of Confedera- 
tion, 288: religious freedom in, 580; 
toleration in, 148. 



TNDEX. 



Massachusetts Assembly refuses toi Mississippi, admitted, 424; bubble, the 
obey Gage, 346; basis "i her claim its; troops removed from bj Grant) 
in western lands, 108; Hay visited, 666; 
s.i: charter, the. 104 106; charter an- Mississippi, efforts to open, 617; month 

nulled. 211] emigrants fr 201; of passed by La Salle, 123; visited 

General Court, the first missionary by De Soto, 73; Valley, the, explored 

Society, 166: governors of, 216; grant by Marquette, 120, 185. 

(■t the territory of, 103; Independent Missouri, admitted, 124, 126; campaign 

spirit of, 211; proposes a Congress In, 616: Compromise, the, 417. 

113; refuses the caO of the President Mobile, Farragut at, 632; settlement at, 

for troops, 41U; social divisions in, 17s 

196; to be crashed, 242 ..Modoc War. the, 681. 

Massacre at Sandusky, 192; the Indians Mogg Megone quoted, 176. 
In Virginia 164; the Boston, 239; the Mohegans faithful to the whites 170. 
Boston, anniversary of, 250. J Money, the use of in politics 438. 

Massacres by Indians. 169. Monitor, the, at Fortress Monroe, 520. 

Massassoil and the Pilgrims, 164; treaty Monmouth, battle of, 306. 



with. 168. 
Mason, John, and Georges, 101. 

Mason and Slidell. capture of, 616. 
Matches introduced, 4.'!7. 

Mather, Cott >n witchcraft, 166; de 

tended by W. F. Poole,167. 

Mather. Increase, on toleration, iit 
Mavilla, battle at, 75 



Monocacy, battle of. 629. 

Monroe James, close of bis term of of- 
fice, 426; death of. 4is ; election of 
as President, 416, 4 1 7 : minister to 
France, 362. 

.Monro.' Doctrine, the, 417, 427, 429. 

Montcalm. General, takes the place of 
Dieskau, 189. 



Mayflower, the, 92; returns to England, Montgomery, Richard, in Canada, l'7'.i. 

W Monticello Seminary founded, 590, 

Meade, General George a., 522. Montreal taken by the Americans, 279. 

Mechanics, progress in, 682, 686 Monte, Sieur de, 100. 

Mecklenburg county, Nortb Carolina, Moore. Thomas, on Washington City, 

319. 393. 

Medicine, schools of. 690. Morgan, Daniel, at Ninety-Six. 32.S. 

Memorial History of Boston, 157. Morgan, General John H., raid of, into 

Memphis taken, 619. Menendes de Indiana, 524. 

\viles leaches St. Augustine, 78. Moravian Church, the. 1K4. 
Merchants from England accompany Moravians arrive in Georgia, 142. 

Packenham's expedition to New Or- Mormons, beginnings of , 148. 



leans, 410. 

Meridian, Sherman at, 626. 

Methodists, the. form society in New 
York, 681. 

Mexico, ancient remains in G.i: con- 
quest of. 36; entered by Scott. 466; 
war with, how brought, about. 465. 

Michigan admitted, 460. 

Michigan Territory lost, 400. 

Middlebnn College founded, 689. 

Militia at Lexington, 256: behavior oi 



Morrill tarrill. the, 574. 

Morristown, Washington at, 315. 

Morse, S. F. I; . invents the telegraph, 
5*5. 

Motives, the religions, of the Massa- 
chusetts colonists. 103, 147. 

Motley, John Lothrop, 594. 

Moultrie William, at Sullivan's Island, 
283 

Mounds, the, of the early Americans, 
55. 



the, at Bunker Hill. 268; called out Mount Desert Island, 101. 

in 1861, 512; the palladium of Ameri- Mount HolyOke Seminary founded. 690. 

can security, 334, 620,633. Mount Vernon Washington at, 336. 

Militiamen show their quality in Brad- Mutiny Act, the. 2.i4. 

dock's expedition. [88. Nancy, capture of the brig, 271 :u4 

Millions for defence, nothing for trib- 1 Napoleon, England's struggle with, 

ute. :571. ■ ■^■. W0. 

Mills, construction of . 582. Naragansetl Indians exterminated, 168 

Minis, massacre at, 404. Nashville, Universitj of founded, 589. 

Minimum, valuation defined, 673 National and Federal plans for the 



Ministry, the British 230. 

Minnesota admitted. 486. 

Minuit, Peter, the Dutch Governor, 
127, 131. 

Minute men at Lexington, 265; organ- 
ized in Concord, 246. 

Miranda, a Spanish adventurer, 384 

Missionary efforts among the Indians. 

166. 
Missionary Ridge, battle of 525. 



overnment, 343. 

Nationality of the United States af- 
firmed, 132, ii20. 

Nauvoo. Mormons expelled from, 14!) 

Naval supremacy oi England chal- 
lenged, ill 

Navy, amazing successes Of, 400, 403; 
rise of the American, 272, 313: trained 
by the Tripolitan war, 3*2. 

Nebraska admitted, 652, 



660 



INDEX. 



Negro exodus to Kansas, 569 

Negroes, increase of, 228; Jefferson's 
prophecy of their freedom, 201; Lin- 
coln on arming the, 516. 

Neutral Ground, the, 321. 

Neutrality, the. of England, 51(i; Van 
Buren's proclamation of, 448; Wash- 
ington's proclamation of, 361. 

Neutrals, rights of, 398. 

New Amsterdam surrenders to the 
roval commissioners, 210; surrenders 
to the English, 127, 130; the first 
American city, 128. 

New England called upon to take care 
of herself, 399: confederation, law in 
regard to fugitive slaves, 357; Feder- 
alists oppose admission of Orleans, 
396; named, 90; patent surrendered 
191; people, 202; ravaged by the 
British, 404; the United Colonies of, 
113; visited by Washington, 366. 

Newfoundland fisheries disputes about, 
477. 

New Hampshire favors Independence 
285; grants, 338; liberality of settlers 
of. 148; named by John Mason, 101. 

New Haven founded, 110; governors of, 
216; sacked by Try on, 313; and Con- 
necticut united, 211. 

New Jersey, College of, founded, :>sT; 
system for the government, 342; 
Washington's retreat, through, 299. 

New London burned by Arnold, 326. 

New Orleans founded, 179; battle of, 
409; importance of, 408; rejoicing 
over the victory of, 415; taken from 
the Confederates, 519. 

Newport, Round Tower at, 24, 



North, the, desirous of peace in 1861, 
501: effect of the civil war upon, 541; 
supposed to be divided in 1861, 498; 
and South, differences between, 345. 

Northeastern route to India, 31, 125. 

Northerners reported to be no match 
for Southerners, 499 

Northmen, supposed visits of to Amer- 
ica, IS. 24 

Northwestern Territory, the, 292; act 
forming, 340, cession of, 422; no slav- 
eiy in 357. 

Nova Scotia named 101. 

Nullification, 431, 643; condemned, 437; 
Madison on, 375; opposed 413: oppo- 
sition to, in 1799, 372. 

Office, rotation in, 379; tenure of, 547; 
holders, changes in. 429. 

Oglethorpe, James Edward, 141; con- 
ciliates the Indians. 180. 

Ohio Company, the, 223, 341; the first, 
186. 

Ohio, constitution of on religion, mor- 
ality and knowledge, 581. 

Ohio legion, plans for government of , 
340; taken possession of by France, 
186. 

Oldham, John, at Biddeford, 103; killed 
by the Pequots, 109. 

Old Man Eloquent, the, 427. 

Old South Meeting-house, 214; Warren 
speaks in, 250. 

Omnibus Bill, the, of 1850,472. 

Opechancanough slain, 165. 

Opequam Creek, battle of, 529. 

Orders in council of England, 387; 
repealed by England. 398. 

Ordinance of 1787, the, 293. 294, 340. 



Newspapers, the modern, 586. Oregon admitted, 486; question, the, 

New World, time of the discovery of, 454. 
576. , Osceola, war with, 448. 

New York, draft riots in, 523; in old | Ossa wattomie. Ks., burned, 482. 
times, 209; included in New England,! Oswego and Fort William Henry taken 
212; patriotism of, 209; prepares the by Montcalm, 189. 
way for the confederation, 290; re- Orleans, proposed as a member of the 
fuses to pay for quartering troops,! union, 396; territory of, 423. 
235; the scene of active operations, Orel lano, Francisco, 67 



295; sells its interest in Vermont 
422; the name given by the English 
to New Amsterdam, 130; the place of 
meeting of the first Congress, 113; 
wrongly supposed to be loyal to 
King' George, 252. 

Niagara, battle of, 407. 

Nicollet, the explorer, 116. 

Nicholas, George, modifies Jefferson's 



Oriskany. battle of, 302. 

Otis, James, 593; opposes the Writs of 

Assistance, 227. 
Overland routes to California explored, 

477. 
Over-production, doctrine of, 573. 
Pacific railway, the completion of, 554; 

railways, 562; surveys for routes of. 

477. 



draft of Kentucky resolutions, 372. Pacific region, gained by the Mexican 
Nobility, titles of, 626. ! treaty, 467; settlements on the, 454. 

Nolan. Philip, murdered in Texas, 444. [Packenham, General, defeated at New 
Nordenskiold, Adolf Eric, 31. i Orleans, 409. 

Norridgewock Indians overcome, 176. [Palatinate, emigrants from the, 581. 
Norsemen, visits of the, 24, 90. Palenque, remains at, 63. 

North Carolina favors independence, Palfrey's history qnoted. 166; statement 

283; gives up her claim on Tennessee., regarding the relations between the 

422; massacre in, 177; university of, Indians and Whites, 163. 

founded, 589 Panama Mission, the, 429. 

North, Lord, and his policy, 230; wishesfPanicof 1857, 561; of 1869, 555. 

to conciliate, 304 I Paper, lack of, in the South, 542. 



INDEX. 



<W1 



Paper money, embarrassment from 
surplus Of, I.'.'.'. 

Paper oiled, used In « Indows, 146. 

Paradise, the terrestial, 21. 

Parker, Amass J., chairman of the 
peace conference, soo. 

Parliament encourages missionary 
work, 168; plans to divide the Amer- 
icans, 248; proposes to conciliate, 303, 
304. 

Park man, Francis, on theearlj Amer- 
icans, 48, 63; "Pioneers of France," 
79, 117. 

Parties forming, 347. 

Partisan warfare In the Soul h, • ;! i . 

Party feeling low. 357, 418; suite after 
the Washington administrations, 370. 

Talents and COJ J rights 625. 

Patriotism of New York. 290. 

Patriots leai e Boston, 280. 

i air .ions, the Dutch, 127. 

i utters Commodore, overcomes the 

pirates of Paratai ia. Ins. 

Patterson, William, offers a plan for 
the govern nt, 34'_'. 

Paul John ,call6 himself PaulJones,31 (. 

Paulding. John,o f thecapturers of 

Andre. 321. 

Peace alter the war of 1812, 115 

Peace Conference, the, at Albany, 506; 
at Washington, .~>07. 

I'ieree, Franklin, nominated, 470. 

Pemaquid, a fori erected at, 17.".. 

Peraberton, General, at Vicksburg, 523. 

Penn, William, obtains a grant of Penn- 
sylvania, 136. 

Pennsylvania declares against the 
Writs of Assistance, 236; invaded by 
Lee, 922; toleration in, 151; Univer- 
sity of, founded, 221 . 588. 

"la. taken from the British by 
Jackson, M9. 

People, the, sovereignty of, 432. 

Pepperell, Sir William, at Louisburg, 
183. 

Pequot Indians, war declared against, 
109. 

Percy, Lord, flight of, 258; takes re-in- 
forcements to Lexington, 256; 

Perkins, Jacob, invents a nail machine, 
582. 

Perry, Commodore, opens Japan, 47". 

Perry, Commodore O, H.. creates a 
navy on the lake-. 40:;. 

iiiion general In America, 206. 

Personal liberty laws, the, of the 
Northern States. 477. 

Persons, importation of, 625; taken in 
war, how divided by the New Kng- 
land ( 'onfederation. 603. 

IV t hank-. 438. 

Peters, Richard, on the deeds of Ar- 
nold, 310. 

Petersburg, capture of, '■'••7. 

Peyster, .1. W., de. pleads for the To- 
ries. 279. 

Philadelphia, laid out. 189; popula- 
tion of, 309; social life in, 308. 



Philip, successor of Vlassassoit, in*. 
Phipps, Sir William, takes Annapolis, 

17J. 
Pickens, General Andrew, 318. 
Pickering, Timothy, not surprised at 

Arnolds treachery, 316; resists 

< rage's forces, 250 
Pilgrims, the, at Plymouth, 91; Ha- 

COn'S \ lew Of their predee. ->ors. 249; 

landing ol the, at Plymouth, 95, 98; 
social compact ol t he, 92, 601. 

Pillow, Fort, slaughter at, 532. 

Pinckney, Cliarles C, ordered to leave 
France, 370; offers a plan tor the 
<; ivernment 

Pinzon deserts ( 'olumbus 16. 

Pirates, the. ol the Mediterranean. 382; 
tribute to, paidby United states U5. 

Pitt, William, 230; lays the foundation 
ol the Western Republic, 191; opin- 
ion of the Continental < tongress, 244; 
plans the driving out oi the French 
from America, 189; thinks the Amer- 
ican Union permanent. 249; urges 
the removal oi forces i rom Boston, 
248: Camden and Pane honored, 234; 
and Burke oppose the king, 252. 

Pittsburg named, I'.iu; riots in, ")ti7. 
Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 519. 
Pizarro, Francisco, \0. 
Plantation the, in the South, 208. 
Plymouth, colon; . Adams on, 92; Gov- 
ernors, 100; united to Mass . 100. 
Plymouth company, 85, ni; dissolved, 

102; grant divided, 101 
Plymouth Council, the ill. 
Plymouth, Pilgrims at. 91; Hock. :<r<, 
Pocahontas, the story of. 88, 90, 
Poetry, earlj cultivation of, 594. 
Political misconceptions, 198; parties 

forming, 347. 
Polk, .lames K.. elected 162. 
Pollard, on the battle el Hull Ran, 515. 
Polo, Marco, travels of, t. 
Polygamy, suppression of, 571 ; and 

slavery opposed by the Republican 

party. 184. 
Pontine, the conspiracy of, 191; death 

of, 193. 
Poore, Pen Perley, 378. 
Popham, George arrives at the Ken 

nebec, 86. 

Population of the country at the end 
of the old French and Indian war. 
193. 

Port hill goes into operation, 242. 

Port Hudson, surrender of. 524. 

Portland. Maine. 102 

Post 1 Hflce Department 219. 

Post Roads, how established, 624 

Postal facilities 

Potomac, Army of the. to operate 
against Lee, 528; campaign of , 420. 

Poverty at the close oi 'he Revolu- 
tion, 337, 

Powhattan, 68, 90; and the whites, 164, 

Powell, .1 W.. corrects some anthro- 
pological errors, 50. 



662 



INDEX. 



Pownall, Governor Thomas, calls the 

people " sovereign,"' 417. 

Prayer, Franklin's proposition for 'il.'i 

Prescott, Samuel, accompanies Re- 
vere, 254. 

Prescott, William, starts for Bunker 
Hill, 264, 

Prescott, William H., 594. 

Presbyterians, the, appear, 581 : Scotch, 
arrive in America, 101 

.President, duties of, ti24. 626; howl 
chosen, 635; propositions regarding 
election of, 414, 

President, the American frigate, 397. 

1'residential candidates, 427; election I 
contested, 565; the first, 349: nomi- 
nations, 433. 

Presidency, relative rank of, 368. 

Press, freedom of, 620, 641. 

Price, Rev. Richard, characterizes 
America, 309. 

Prima Vista (probably Cape Breton 
island) 29. 

Prince, Thomas, 100, 593. 

Princeton, British surprised at, 300. 

Princeton College, founded, 5*7. 

Pring, Martin, 84, 90. 

Print/. -John, founds a colony on Tini- 
cum Island, 139. 

Prison in the copper mines of Sims- 
bury, 272. 

Privateers, 385; American drive French 
vessels from our coast, 371; South- 
ern, 516. 

Prophet, the, brother of Tecumseh, 
403. 

Proprietary Governments, the, 208. 

Protection, difference between the 
.\orth and South, regarding, 429, 431 

Protestant against Romanist in Amer-j 
ica, 174; liberty, movement for, 216., 

Protestants appear among the early 
explorers, 75 

Providence, founded by Roger Wil- 
liams, 107. 

Provincial Congress, at Watertown,! 
263; the, in Massachusetts, 246, 247 
261 ; in South Carolina, 248. 

Provincial Governments, the, 208. | 

Provisions, prices of, in Boston, 275. 

Proviso, the Wilmot, 461. 

Pueblo Indians, 48. 

Pulaski, Casimir, 306, 312. 

Puritan period, the. in England, 579. 

Puritans in Maryland, 133; warned 
from Virginia; 151. 

Putnam, Mr. F. W., on the early 
Americans, 44, 56, 59. 

Putnam, Israel, aroused, 259; enters 
Boston, 278. 

Quaker policy of Grant, 560. 

Quakers, extraordinary acta of, 154; in 
West Jersey, 132; institute hospitals 
for the sick and insane, 160; tor- 
tured in New Amsterdam, 129; and 
Baptists not tolerated in Massachu- 
setts, 152; and Dutchmen, patriots, 
260. 



Quebec act, the 243. 

Quebec attacked by Arnold, 279; col- 
lege founded at, 119; founded, 118; 
taken by the English, 119, 191. 

Quincy, Josiah, on the dissolution of 
the Union, 390; protests against the 
war of 1812, 399. 

Rahl, the Hessian General, killed, ^99. 

Railroad, Pacific, completion of, 554; 
Riots of 1877, 567; destruction of 
by Sherman, 528; not appreciated 
388; the early, 585. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 82, 134. 

Randolph, Edmund, presents a plan 
for government, 342. 

Rank, social, guarded in New England, 
202. 

Rasle, Father, missionary to the Abe- 
nakis, 176. 

Rawdon, Lord, in the South, 31S. 

Rayneval, Gerard de, minister from 
France, 306. 

Real estate, depression of, 439 

Rebellion, power to crush, as defined 
by Edmund Randolph, 344. 

Reconstruction of the South, 545. 

Reform, civil service demanded, 560. 

Religion, freedom of, 620; freedom of 
in Maryland, 133; the, of the Indians, 
50, 53; regulated in New Amsterdam, 
129; war of, 174; war of in Maryland, 
1.34. 

Religious distinctions in Massachusetts 

I and Virginia, 196; freedom, growth 
of, 580; motives of the early explor- 
ers, 15, 39, 74, 115; of the Massachu- 
setts colonists, 103, 147: tests forbid- 
den, 581 

Rendition of slaves, 474. 

Representation, basis of , 346. 

Representative assembly, the first, 195; 
government the first formed in 
America, 89. 

Representatives, apportionment of, 
636; how chosen, 621, 636. 

Republican form of government not 
suited to large countries. 348, 396; 
I he first, soeiai divisions, 19, 195, guar- 
anteed to the West, 291. 

Republican party formed, 483. 

Repudiation by States, 440. 

Reserve, the Connecticut, 422. 

Resignations of office, JelVerson on, 379 

Resolutions, the, of Kentucky and Vir- 
ginia, 372, 637. 

Restoration, effects of in America, 210. 

Revenue, a surplus, 575; bills, how 
originated, 623. 

Revere, Paul, sent to New York and 
I hiladelphia, 241 ; sets out to warn 
Lexington. 254. 

Revolution! condition of affairs at the 
close of, 337; duration of the, 295; 
hopelessness of the, 297, 301 ; litera- 

| ture in the, 593; the, in England, 

I 216. 

Rhett, Robert Barnwell, on secession, 

. 494. 



INDEX. 



603 



Rhode Island forces at Cambridge, 269; 
Rebellion In, 460; toleration In, 148. 

EUall, General, defeated by Beott, H>7. 

Ribanlt, .loan, leads ;i colony t" Amer 
lea, 76, ir>. 

Richmond becomea the confederate 
capital, ."'17; confusion at, 538; In- 
quirer ou Beceasion and treason, 413; 
gnrrend Tof, 

Rights, Declaration of , made by Vir- 
ginia, 284,618; Declaration of , ol the 
Continental Congress, 245. 

Riots, railway, 567; slavery, 462. 

Kit« hie, Thomas, opposed i" secession, 
418. 

Rivtngton's Gazateer, 296. 

Koads poor in England and America, 
146; and canals, 393. 

Rochambeau joins Washington, 32G, 
829,332. 

Rolfe, John, marries Pocahontas, 90. 

Romance, influence of, 121; "t discov- 
ery. 1, 7, s, 42, 66, 7:;; ol exploration, 
115. 

Roman Catholic Church established in 
\iur> land, 580. 

Kipss, General, obliged to retreat from 
Baltimore, 407. 

Rotation in office, 379; genesis of, 430. 

Kush, Benjamin, disparages Washijg- 
ton, 304. 

Rural tastes of the South, 207. 

Russell, Jonathan, at Gottenburg, 414. 

Russia aiis as mediator between Eng- 
land and America, n I. 

Russian America, purchase "f. 549. 

Rutgers College founded, 588. 

Safety, c muteeof in Massachusetts, 

249, 

-. stories of the, 24, 90. 

st Brandan, Island of, 4. 

St. Clair, General Arthur, Cover • 

of the Northwestern Territory, 341. 

st. Lawrence, tin-. 117. 

Salem, a eolony arrives at, 103; first 

i>l 1 shed at. 250. 

Salzburg, Protestants from, settle in 

Georgia, 14'.'. 
San Salvador, discovered by Columbus, 

18. 
Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de. 145; 

defeated, 465. 
Sandys. George, translates Ovid, 162. 

Saratoga, battles ot 302 
ftnumman assassinated, 168. 

Savannah capitulates to Clinton, .'d I ; 

evacuated by tin- British, 332; selected 
bj ( Oglethorpe for his plantation, i n ; 
Sherman at, 531. 
Schenectady burned, 172. 

Schools anil churches, ltd; and col- 
leges, 205; in different colonies, i;;o. 

Schuyler, General Philip, 267; in com- 
mand at New York, 269, 278, 

Schweldnitz, the assault on. eclipsed 
by Wayne, 312. 

S.-liweinitz. Kdniuud de, his work on 
iin- Moravian missions, 1 36 



Science, early stage of, 593; schools 
ol. 590. 

Scott, Walter, Impressed by the story 
of Goffe, 169. 

Scott, General w Infield, at tin- battle 
of Chippewa. W7; In Mexii 
165; Mexican Campaign, 160; nomi- 
nated for President, 17c; sen! t<> 
Charleston 136; sent to .slop Indian 
ravages. 1 16. 

Screw propeller, the, ~' s i. 

Seamen, impressment of, 362. 

Seamen, Impressment of by England, 
385; stopped, n I. 

Search, right of, 398, lii; asserted by 
Bngland73(i2; practised by England, 
397. 

Seating the meeting-house. 202. 

Secession, doctrines of, 546, 643; efforts 
to avoid 502; hasty, 601; impossible 
without general consent, 413; bow 
justified, tin; opposed In the South, 
497; results of, as depicted b\ .lack- 
son, 136; threats of , 345 482. 

Sectional feelings, 308; efforts of Gai 
field to obliterate, 671. 

Sectional jealousies, 351: one cause of, 
en. 

Sectionalism, Hayes endeavors to re- 
move, 566; deprecated by Washing- 
ton, 336, 365; discouraged, 233. 

Sects, religious, collision of, 581. 

Sedition act, the. 371, 376, 379. 

Selectmen, the, in Massachusetts, jit. 

Self-government in America, 114. 

Senunoles, host ility of, W3. 

Seminole war of 1835, 4 17. 

Sen s, < apt aii i Raphael, 51C. 

Senate, how formed, 622. 

Seneca on tin' New World, 3 

Sergeant, .lohn, missionary to the 
Indians, 184. 

Sermons, early, 593. 

Serpent Mound, the, o9. 

Settlement, tie- firs! permanent, 89. 

Seven Cities, Island of, 7, 29 

Seventh of March Speech of Webster, 

172. 

Beven Tears war, the. 185. 193. 

Seward, \\ . ii.. attempted assassina- 
tion of 539; views of regarding 
Alaska,;'.!;'. 

Shaw unit, the Hermit of, 106, 

Shattuck, Samuel, beai-s a missive from 
the king. 154. 

Shawnee Mission, Kansas 181, 

Shenandoah Valley fried from the Con- 
federates, 530; campaign in, 629 

Shepard, Rev. Thomas ot Cambridge, 

109; on toleration. 1 17. 

Sheridan at Winchester, 530; defeats 
Early, 529; in Virginia, 529; sketch 
.it, 530. 

Sherman, Roger repreaentat Ii 

Sherman, W. T . at Chattanooga, 525; 
march northward, 533; march t" the 
sea. 531 ; operates against \i lauta, 

528; at Atlanta, 531. 



664 



INDEX. 



Sherman, John, sketch of, 502. 

Shirley, William, iu the French and 
Indian war, 187; makes a plan for 
colonial union, 225; plans the attack 
on Louisborg, 183. 

Shot, the, heard round the world. 257. 

Siege of Boston, a play, by Burgoyne, 

Sift'el, General, in the Shenandoah 

Valley, 529. 
Simsbury, Conn., mines of, 272. 
Simplicity, the, of Jefferson, 377. 
Sioux war of 1870, 563 



5G0; sentiments of, 543; the, opposed 
to a protective tariff, 431; reconstruc- 
tion in the, 545; visited by Washing- 
ton, 307; and North, differences be- 
tween, 345. 

South Carolina alarmed at the increase 
of negroes, 228: for union, 233; doc 
trine of nullification of, 372: holds a 
Provincial Congress, 248; indepen- 
dent spirit in, 225; nullification in, 
433; patriotism of, 283; secedes, 
493. 

South Sea Scheme the, 179 



Sismondi's doctrine of over-production, southern coast ravaged by the Uiiiish 

1 4(14. 

Southern gentleman, the, 207. 
Southern people, the. opposed to war. 



573. 

Sitting Bull, war with, 503. 

Six Nations, peace with, 223; treaty 
with the, 181). 

Skinners, the, of the Neutral Ground, 
321 . 

Slaves, 32, 90; early importations of, 
199; fugitives to be returned to 
owners, 294, 340; incited to rise 
against the Americans, 280; number 
of, 193; taken in war,ti03; white and 
black, 196 

Slave trade, abolition of demanded. 



511. 
Southwest, efforts of the British in, 

408. 
Sovereigns, the people first called, 417. 
Spain cedes Florida to the United 
States, 418; plan to take her South 
American possessions, 384; refuses 
the right of deposit at New Orleans, 
380; and England, war between, 142. 
Spaniards, the, incite the Yemassees 
■x>< ; agreement to put it down, 444; against the whites, 177. 
forced upon America, 199; the con- Spanish Succession, war of the, 173. 
stitution on, <i25; the, opposed by Vir-;Specie circular, the, of Jackson 439. 
ginia, 228, 340; supported by Eng- Specie payments,resdmption of, recom 
land, 2iil 



Slavery abolished in Virginia, 020; abo 
lition by constitutional amendment, 
533, 036; agitation, 478; beginning 
of, 190; discussed in the constitu- 
tional convention, 345; discussion of, 
424, 425, 4G2, 409, 470; disapproved 
by Oglethorpe, 142; established in 
Georgia, 143; in Mexico, 401; in the 
Territories, Oalhoun on, 474; intro- 
duced, 90; line of drawn, 446; Lin- 
coln's treatment of, 510; prohibited 
in the Northwestern Territory, 294; 
Stephens on, 511. 

Smith College founded, 590. 

Smith, E. Kirby, surrender of, 540. 

Smith, Captain John, at Jamestown, 
87; his account of his adventures, 
162; writes his history, 88. 



mended by Hayes, 507; resumption of, 

570. 
Speculation caused by the embargo 

and war of 1812, 573;' facilitated. 438. 
Speech, freedom of, emphasized by 

Constitutional amendments, 354. 
Spencer, Herbert, his errors regarding 

anthropology, 50; on the American 

character, 596. 
Spoils belong to victors, 429. 
Spot resolutions, the, of Lircoln, 456. 
Spotted Tail, 563. 
Spottsylvania, C. H., 528. 
Squatter sovereignty, 478. 
Stamp Act repealed, 234. 
Stamp tax, the, 220, 231. 
Stamp taxes after the civil war, 548. 
Stamped paper seized and burned, 

233. 



Smith Joseph, leader of the Mormons. Standish, Miles, 95. 99, 



449. 
Smith's tavern, Philadelphia, 244. 
Social Compact, the, of the Pilgrims. 

oot. 
Social life in Philadelphia, 368. 
Social worthies in the colonies, 240. 
Society in the colonial period, 158. 
Solon hears of Atlantis, 1. 
Sons of Liberty, origin of their name, 

De Soto, Fernando, 07, 08, 73. 
South America, remains in, 65. 



t ant on, removal of, 547. 
star of the West, the. fired on, 507. 
Stark, John, roused by the battles of 

Lexington and Concord, 259. 
State Governments, guards needed 
against, 375; opposed to the Fed- 
eral Government, 348. 
State rights as held by Madison, 375; 
Calhoun the advocate of, 397; and 
confederate rights, 219; and nullifica- 
tion, 432; jealousy for, 293; supported 
by South Carolina, 433 
South, a United States, called for, 470; State sovereignty, 342; Hamilton's op- 
completion of the re-organization of , position to, 343; and the Supreme 
555; dissatisfied with the tariff. 574; Court, 485. 

effect of the civil war upon,' 541; State, tlie, superior to the Union, doc- 
measures of Grant in disapproved,! trine of, 366. 



INDEX. 



866 



States.. i'.n; ; adinisBiou of Dew, 421, 422, 
424: disputes between, how decided, 
814; financially embarrassed, 140; 
have thi right to Becede, 113; how 
admitted, 630; power of, increased 
by amendments to the constitution, 
363; relation <>i Congress to, 630; 
rights of, 612; rights asserted, 641, 
and the general government, 
relations between, 132 

Steamboat, the Hrsl practical, 388. 

Steam engi ues 62. 

Steamship, t > i » • Ural to cross t lie At lan- 
tic, 118, 584 

Stedraan, Edmu id Clarence 59 

Steel rails protected, "'7">. 

us, Alexander II . chosen Vice- 
President of the Confederacy, 194; 
against secession, 197; at Fortress 
Momoe 534; on slavery, 511 ; sketch 
Ol 195 

Steuben, Baron, 306. 

Stiles Ezra 593; makes an itinerary 
tor an English traveller, 240 

Stony Point taken by Wayne, 311. 

Story, Judge, on Marshall, 389; on the 
Baptists 80 

StOWe, Harriet lleechor. ~>'.H 

Strict const met ion, doctrine of ignored 

in the Louisiana purchase, 381. 

strict constructionists, 392. 

Stuarts, despotism of, 212. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, 127, 128; asks re- 
turn of fugitive slaves, 357; favors 
negro slavery, 200; persecutes Quak- 
ers, and overcomes the Swedes, 129. 

Sub-treasury Bystem, the, 440. 

Suffrage, right of, 619; under the con- 
stitutional amendments, 652, 

Sueur Law. the, 226, 234. 

Sullivan, messenger between Howe 
and Cong] ess 298. 

Sunnier. Charles, attacked by Brooks, 
188. 

Sumter. General Thomas 318. 

Sumter, 1'orl attacked, 512; supplies 

sent to 500, 

Sumptuary laws 158. 

Sunday, observance of, 160. 

Supreme Court, the. on slavery, 471; 
tendencies of decisions of, 186. 

Swanzey attacked by Indians, 168. 

Swedish colony, a. in Delaware, 129. 

Swedes in Pennsylvania) 189. 

Talleyrand refuses to treat with Amer- 
ican ambassadors, 371 ; retraces his 
steps, 375 

Tammany Hall, meeting in, 137. 

Taney, Roger 1'.., carries out Jackson's 
desire-. 138 

Tappan, the place of the execution of 
Andre, 321. 

Tariff , the. changes in, 573; the Imer 

lean system of, 429; divides North 
and South, 357; discussions, 4^1 ; the, 
of 1883, 576, 
Tarleton General Hamster, in the 

•South, 323. 



taxation determined on i>\ l ntl-m I 

226. 
Taxes, 626; heavy, after the civil war, 

548; reducei 
Taylor, Zaclmrj a candicate for the 

Presidency, 167; in Mexico, I 

158 160, Mil; death of, 472. 
Tea Part] . the Boston, 240 
i ea refused, 
Tea and coffee not used in early 

colonial I in:. - 

Tecumseh, Chief ol the l haw uees life 

and death I i . 
Telegraph, i 
Telegraphy ocean 
Telephone the patented, 

Tennessee ehtels the I lr.en. 421, 422; 

Legislature of, nominates Jackson, 

428; sharpshooters, at New Oi 

410; volunteers under Ji cl - 404. 

Tennessee [he .alll 532. 

Tenure of office .'47. 

Terra del Fuego, degradation of the 

inhabitants n 
To rest rial Paradise, the, 3. 
Ten itories, how governed, 631 ; slavery 

in the. :;:,' 425 171 . 172. 
Territory of the United Stab - 

south of the Ohio slavery in, 357. 

Teutonic tow n system, 206. 

Texas admitted to the Union, 446, 460, 

466. 

Texas, annexation of, 431; urged by 
Calhoun, 445; discussed, 146; boun- 
dary of, 444, 455; declares itself in- 
dependent, 445. 

Thanksgiving, the New England feast, 
160. 

Thatcher, Oxenbridge, on connection 
with England 

Theology, schools of, 590. 

Third term, efforts to nominate Grant 
for a. ."on. 

Thomas, General, at Nashville, 532, 

Thomson, ' hai es, the Sam Adams of 
Philadelphia. 287. 

Tiahuanaco, remains at . 65. 

Ticonderoga taken by Allan. 262; taken 
by the English, 191. 

Tiiden. Samuel J., candidate for Presi- 
dent. 565. 

Tunes, the London, on efforts in the 
Southwest. 408 

Tippeca i, battle of in:;. 

Titicaca, Lake remains at . i i 

Title the of tin' President, 367. 

fobacco, law- regulating the use of, 
169 

Tocqueville, Alexis de, on Plymouth 
Lock. 95. 

Tolerance) religious, not professed by 
the Pilgrims ol Plj mouth, 92. 

Toleration in Maryland, 133. 

Toombs Robert, on b avery, 473. 

Topel a, Ks . convention at, 481. 

Tories, astonished at Boston bj Wash- 
ington's success, 277; the, desert their 
Cambridge homes, 269; have no faith 



6(36 



INDEX. 



in American union, 24!); in the South 
worried by Marion, Pickens and Sum- 
ter, 318; join the Indians in massa- 
cres, 307; leave for England, 277; 
names of some, 26 1 ; numerous in the 
South, 311; the object of English 
jesting, 2(il ; on the Committee of 
Safety. 290; to be protected by Eng- 
land, -Ms. 

Tours of Washington, 366. 

Towne's history of the Constitution, 
342. 

Townsend, would deprive America of 
its charters, 235. 

Township system, icHnence of the New 
England. 388. 

Trade, English Board of, 225. 

Trade revived by the adoption of the 
Constitution, 354. 

Travel, improvement in modes of, 388; 
modes of, I4G. 

Treason defined, 030; by Ritchie. 413 
embarrassments regarding, 348; re 
marks ab at at the time of forming 
the constitution, 348. 

Treaties, 451); how made, 028; not to be 
made by States, 012. 

Treaty at the close of the Revolution 
330; with England ignored by Jeffer 
sou, 386; with France in 1800, 370. 

Trenton, surprise of, 299. 

Tribune, the New York, 560 

Trimou itain, an early name of Boston 
106. 

Tripoli, forced to renounce its claims 
to tribute, 415; war with, 382. 

Troops ordered to Koston, 236. 

Tryon, Governor, at Xew York, 208 
claims Vermont as a part of New 
York, 338; sacks several towns, 313. 

Tunis forced to give up its claim to 
blackmail, 415. 

Turgot, Anne Robert Jacques, 217. 

Turning-point in American history 
191. 

Tuscarora Indians, massacre by, 177. 

Tyler, John, becomes President, 4«t2; 
cli linn in of the peace conference, 
5)7; alienation of his party, 549. 

Uncas, accused by Canonchet, 169. 

Underground railroad, the, 474. 

United Colonies, the, of New England, 
their union to be perpetual, 002. 

United States loan refused in Europe, 
440; phenomena presented in the, 
59 !; territory 2'J4. 

Union an indissoluble, recommended 

by Washington, 334; the Albany plan 
for, 223 ; anonymous plan for. 222; 
Archibald Kennedy's plan for 222; 
delaye 1 by the claims to Western 
territory, 288; demanded, 231; de- 
si ed by the New England colonies, 
112; determined upon, 232; difficulty 
in forming. 219; dissolution of. as 
depiete 1 l>v Jackson, 430; a failure, 
413; favored by England, 223; fee- 
bleness of, 337 ; the first on the Con- 



tinent, 113 ; Franklin's plan for, 220, 
223, 203 ; growth of the spirit of, 229; 
interests of neglected by Congress, 
308; Kentucky professes loyalty to, 
04r>; knell of the, 425; Lincoln on the, 
50!); movement towards a more per- 
fect, 339; need of seen. 21!); obstacles 
to the, 103 ; only cared for in the 
presence of danger, 351 ; Penn's plan 
for, 220; proposition to dissolve, 426; 
safety in, 543; speech, the, of Web- 
ster, 472; threats of dissolution of 
399; the thirteen colonies pledged to', 
242; under the constitution, Webster 
on, 597; Vermont admitted to, 338; 
war for preserving, 512; Webster or. 
the, 432. 

Union College founded, 589. 

I'pshall, Nicholas, protests against in- 
tolerance, 152. 

Utiea, no pent up, 310. 

Vaca, Cabeza de. 41, 70. 

Valley Forge, winter at, 303. 

Van Buren chosen President 439; nom- 
inated as vice-President, 433. 

Vane, Henry, 107. 

Van Rensselaer, Kilaen, 127. 

Van Wart, Isaac, one of the capturers 
of Andre, 321. 

Vasquez carries away Indians, 104. 

Vassar College founded, 590. 

Vergennes, Count de, sends informa- 
tion to Franklin, 329. 

Vermont, enters the Union, 4.1. 422; 
reasons for keeping out of the Union, 
421 ; settlement of. 338. 

Verrazano, Giovanni de, 39, 90. 

Versatility, the, of the American char- 
acter. 595. 

Very. Jones, sonnet by, GO. 

Vespucci, Amerigo, 32. 

Vestry, the, in the South, 208. 

Vice-President, duties of, 022 627. 

Vicksburg, Sherman at, 525; taken by 
Grant, 523. 

Victors and spoils, 429. 

Villegagnon leads a Protestant colony 
to Brazil 76. 

Vines, Richard, at Saco, 103. 

Virginia, acts as mediator, 437; calls 
for a constitutional convention, 
339: centre of the last scenes of 
the Revolution, 326; claims West- 
ern territory, 308; described in Mar- 
ston's play, 84; declaration of rights. 
233, 018; declares against the writs of 
Assistance, 230; discountenances 
the slave trade, 200; emigrants from, 
201; gives up her claim on Kentucky, 
422; legislature declares against nul- 
lification, 372; makes the first declar- 
ation of Independence, 283; named, 
83; opposes the stamp act, 231; op- 
posed to the slave trade 228; organ- 
izes operations in the West. 308; pa- 
tent, the, 85; plan for the American 
government. 312; resolutions of 1798 
'99, 372, 375, 037; representative gov- 



INDEX. 



667 



ernmenl In, 8 i; social distinctions in, Washington College founded, 

196; toleration in, 151; university of, Watauga Association, 338. 
i; Massachusetts and Carolina call Watson, Elkanah, reports a memorable 

fora 232. Bpeechol George III., 332. 

Wadsworth, (apt. Joseph, said to have Watertown, Mass., Eliot's labors at, 

hidden the Connecticut ( harter, 214. 187; set! led. 106. 
Waldron, Major, entraps Indians, 170 Wayne, Anthony, overcomes the In- 
Wallace, Gen. Lewis, at Monocacj ,521). dians, 358; takes >tony P tint, 311. 
Walloon colonists, 127. Webster, Daniel, 594; debates with 

War, charges of, how paid, 613; civil, Hayne, 432; negotiates the treat] oi 



threatened, 347; duties levied, 574; of 
1812, protests against, 399; "t [812, a 
party measure, 399; o.* '.812, opposi 
tion t.>, 110; of 1861, object "t the 
North in, 512;of secession, causes ol 
498, 199; persons taken in, how appro- 



Washington, 443; mi peaceable - 
Mini. 193; mi Bectioual jealonsy, 191; 
mi the American character and fn- 
i ure, 597; on l nion, ami local I 

47::; pride oi the South in, 543; 

tary of state, 472: union Bpeech, 472. 



priati-ii, 603; with England, demand- We llesley College I 



I'd. 361 

Ward, Artemas, at the head of tin- pro- 
vincial army, 249; at the head 01 an 
anu\ 

Ward. Nathaniel, tl simple cobbler 

of Agawani," on toleration, 155. 

Warrants, General, oppressive, 229, 
019, 633. 

Warren, Joseph, address on the aiuii- 



Wells ravaged by Indians 170. 

Went worth, John, charters Dartmouth 

college, 588; claims Vermont, 
Wesley, John, opposed to A rican 

independence, . 52; and Charles in 

Georgia, 1 12. 
Western explorations, 389; limits of 

tin- colonies, 288. 
West, operations in. 308. 



versary of the Boston Massacre, 250; Western lands, recommendation of 
president of congress, 261; falls at Congress about, 290. 
Bunker Mil. w estern Reserve, the, 110, 291. 

Washington G., 593; affected to tears, Western Reserve College, meeting of 
336; appears as aid to Braddock, 187; students of, 486. 
appointed commander of the conti- Western territory ceded to the Union. 



Jin : territory claimed by Massachu- 
setts and ( 'ouneel icut, 103, 110; terri- 
torj claimed by Vireinia, 308; terri- 
tory, claims oi the colonics to, delay 
union. 288; territory, French claim's 
to, 185, 186. 



nental forces. 264; aspersed, 304; at 
Mount Vernon 336; at New York, 
296; becomes known, 220; before the 
Provincial Congress, 269; death of, 
376; declares for resistance to Eng- 
land 236; delivers his commission to 

Congress, 335; disbands the army, Western' Female Seminary, 590. 
332; enters Boston, 278; inauguration West Virginia idmitted 
of. :;:,:;; Informed of his election a- Wethersfleld settled, 108. 
President, 362: leaves Philadelphia to Wheelwright, Rev. John, 107, il^. 
take command of the army, 267; on Whig party named, 437. 
the constitution, 350; in rhila., 326: Whippinc-post, the. 158. 
opposed tothe stamp tax, '_'::i : satisfied Whitetieid. Rev. George, a friend of 
with the militia, 268; retreats to Har- Pepperell, is:;: in Georgia, 142; fa- 
lem Heigh ts, 298; near despair for the vora Blavery, 199. 
cause. 298; receives his commission, White Plains, Washington at, 305. 

267; reliai »n Providence of, 267; Whitney, Asa, said to have proposed 

signs the Constitution, 348; akill of, the Pacific railway, 

in the Revolution, 328; troubled by Whitney's cotton gin, 

the sympathy with the French Revo- Whittier, John Greenleaf, 694; on the 

lution, 361; unties North and South, actsol the Quakers, 154; " Death of 

356; violently abused, 365 376. the Fratricide," 307. 

Washington's address to the Governors Wilderness, battles of the. 
at the close of the Revolution, 334; Wilkesand liberty,229. 
designs on Boston, 275; embargo, Wilkes, Captain Charles, 517. 

i mbarraasments as President, William ami Mary College, II 1,587. 
368; farewell address. 366; powers Williams, David one of the capturera 
augmented 300; style of living, 366, of Andre*. 321, 

tours, 366. Williams, Ephraim, founder it Wil 

Washington, William Augustine, 324. Hams College, 188. 

Washington appearance of the city inl Williams, Roger, arrives at Boston 

1800, 378, 393; 1> unes the federal 106; banished from Massachusetts, 

capital, 389; burned by the British, 107; establishes religious freedom, 

407:peac( nference at. 507; threat- 580; keeps peace between whites and 

ered by Early, 629; treaty of, 131, Indians. 1 19. 

443. Williams College founded. 589. 



INDEX. 



Wilmington, X. C, taken, 532. 

Wilniot, David, introduces his proviso, 
461. 

Wilson, Henry, opposed to disunion, 
48j. 

Winchester, Sheridan at, r>:;o. 

Winchester, defeat of Early at, 529. 

Wingfield s Discourse of Virginia, 88. 

Winslow, Edward, governor, on Ply- 
mouth Colony, 100. 

Winslow, John, sent against Acadie, 
1ST, 18'J. 

Winslow, Josiah, 100 

Winsor, Justin, editor, 157. 

Winthrep, John arrives with the 
Massachusetts charter, 105. 

Wirt, candidate for President, 443, 593 

Witchcraft delusion, the. 155. 

Witchcraft, views regarding, common 
to Europe and America, 155. 

Wolfe, death of, 191. 

Women colleges for, 590; condition of 
in the Soutn during the Civil War, 
542; none in the first Va. colony, 89. 



Wool. John E., on the Rio Grande, 461. 

Woollen goods protected, 574. 

Woollsey, T. 1)., on the Hartford Con- 
vention, 410. 

World's 1 air, the. of 1853, 477. 

Writs of Assistance, 227; resisted by 
Virginia, 230. 

Wyandot convention, 486. 

Wyoming, massacre at, 307. 

Yale College founded 161.587. 

Yeardley, Sir George, establishes a 
representative government in Vir- 
ginia, 89. 

Yemassees, rise against the Whites, 177 

Yellow fever in the South, 567. 

Yorktown, close of the Revolution at, 
327. 

Young, Brighain, leader ot the Mor 
mons, 450. 

Yucatan, ancient remains in, 63. 

Zeisberger, David, the Moravian pion- 
eer, 185. 

ZuTii, pueblo of, discovered, 41. 

Znbly, John J., becomes a tory,272. 



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